Jacob Lai
March 14, 2024 — October 24, 2025
Jacob Lai was born on March 14, 2024 in Seattle, Washington and passed away at home on October 24, 2025 in Menlo Park, California. He is survived by his parents Janet and Jefferson and loyal border collie Sunny.
In his life, Jacob used his big, bright eyes to take in the world around him and re-enact everything his own way, from making hand-airplanes that mimicked the airplanes flying above Jet City to “caw-ing” conversations with the neighborhood crows.
Jacob loved diving into his library of books at every opportunity, including bedtime and nap time when he would always negotiate for one more. And he loved them in the three languages his parents and nanny Isabel talked and read to him in: English, Spanish and Cantonese. Among his favorites were sticker books and the ones with songs or sound effects like ¿Puedes CAVAR como un excavadora?, Rema rema rema tu bote and Las ruedas del autobús. The wheels on the bus became a must-play song that demanded bouncing and rolling his arms over each other many times a day.
Jacob was fascinated by animals. In addition to “guau guaus” like Sunny, he enjoyed spotting and imitating gorillas, elephants, bears and cats. He knew all the sounds they made and was very happy to help feed Sunny and offer treats to Calypso the cat.
Jacob was able to travel and visit Portugal and Canada with his parents and even made a trip to Japan with his auntie Alice and uncle Anthony. He left his footprints and crumbs all over Porto, Lisbon, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Vancouver and created precious memories for many.
After leaving Seattle and saying farewell to his PEPS friends, he immediately found new friends at the Imagina daycare where he played and learned through new activities each day. In October, he developed a special appreciation for pumpkins and was able to pick one to bring home to show his parents.
Jacob will forever be remembered, loved, and missed by his friends and family.
Jacob's passing was classified as a Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). SUDC is the sudden and unexpected death of a child over the age of one that remains unexplained after a thorough investigation. It is a devastating reality that affects hundreds of families each year, and much remains unknown about its causes. The SUDC Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness, funding research, and supporting families affected by these losses.
