Jim Hartsell, a 59-year-old author and architect from Alabama, has experienced a profound double tragedy with the death of his son Jake, 33, who was killed in an accident while walking home. This loss occurs just five years after Hartsell and his wife, Jaymaine, 58, lost their younger son, Jordan, to an accidental drug overdose in May 2021 at the age of 21.
Hartsell shared the news of his son Jake's death on social media platform X, stating that his family was "devastated" by the sudden loss. "My sweet son Jake, who many of you met or know from my writing, was killed in an accident while walking home last night," Hartsell wrote. "So many people loved him and his pure joy for life, I wanted to let everyone know. Our family is devastated. He was my best friend."
Jake's passing comes five years after the family endured the death of Jordan, a promising golfer. Jordan had been a member of Hartselle High School’s 2015 state championship team, played six years on the varsity team, and received a golf scholarship. His death was attributed by doctors to an interaction between his prescribed Adderall and either an opioid pill or Xanax, possibly laced with fentanyl. Jordan was found deceased in his grandfather's home.
His loss deeply impacted Jim Hartsell, leading him to write the book "When Revelation Comes: A Journey Across the Sacred Links of Scotland." In it, he chronicled his grief and guilt following Jordan's death. Hartsell embarked on a journey to Scotland, a place of profound personal meaning, seeking a way to process his unbearable loss and find a possibility for joy again.
Jake had been an integral part of his father's life and his writings long before Jordan's death. In 2019, father and son traveled together to Scotland, exploring lesser-known links courses and sites away from typical tourist paths. Hartsell recounted the "sheer joy" on Jake’s face during these discoveries. Jake also played a role in introducing his father to Sweetens Cove, a nine-hole course in Tennessee that became a significant passion for Hartsell. During a profile piece about Hartsell at Sweetens Cove, he mentioned how the game had connected their family, arriving with Jake.
The book ultimately became a narrative about grief, fathers and sons, friendship, golf, and the pursuit of peace. With Jake's death, Hartsell's only surviving child is his eldest son, 35-year-old Jonathan.
Hartsell's announcement prompted an outpouring of sympathy from those who knew the family and followed his work. Many shared their own experiences with loss and offered condolences. The specific circumstances of Jake's accident have not been detailed publicly beyond his father's statement that he was killed while walking home. Hartsell remembered his son not by the circumstances of his death, but by the happiness he brought to others, referring to Jake as his "best friend."