Jon was a great person and a long time friend to me. I got to know Jon at Byron and have remained friends ever since. I have many fond memories of adventures, excursions and mishaps from all those years, like the time we went to a Beach Boys concert at the Arena and left immediately afterwards in his VW for Watkins Glen, NY for a US Gran Prix race. We had a weekend of fun, but on Sunday when driving back to Cleveland we got caught speeding in a primative radar trap set up by the locals to grab as much money as possible from the visiting car enthusiasts. We had to go before a Magistrate (in the living room of his house!) and couldn't pay the fine. So in order to get home, Jon put up his watch to get us out. Jon fell for "the new girl" at school and began dating Kim Beibers after she moved to Shaker in our Junior year. I knew he was serious as I saw him do some impressive things for her. I remember that he and I had lunch during the first lunch period and Kim was in the second period. Jon and I would drive to the McDonalds on Kinsman, eat a lunch and get one to go for Kim. He'd park his car on the Oval and turn on the VW's (optional extra) gasoline powered heater which ran independently from the engine. He'd leave a window cracked, place the McDonalds bag on the floor under the hot blast of the gas heater, and lock up the car with the heater running so Kim could come out for her lunch period and get a warm McDonalds meal from his car. Now that's devotion. Then there was the time as seniors we took some time (i.e. skipped class) and picked up his older, college-aged friend's British sports-race car in Beechwood and drove it around Shaker. Now this was not a street legal car, having open exhaust (loud) and sat about 24" high at its tallest (invisible). Of course Jon wanted to drive it all the way to Larchmere by Shaker Square to show off to Kim. That crazy drive was risky because the car was really just a ticket waiting to happen - but we lucked out.
A few years later I went to visit Jon at Belknap College in New Hampshire to ski during Spring Break. Jon lost the keys to his VW just before I got there, but we figured out a plan, bought two toggle switches at the hardware and wired one to the ignition wire and one to the starter wire, bypassing the key lock. Jon liked that idea because it meant that he started it like you do an ariplane, one switch to turn on the ingnition and then the second to activate the starter motor. We didn't miss a minute of sking. Over the years we stayed in touch, and I would try to see him whenever I could on trips to visit family in Cleveland. We haven't seen each other for a couple of years, but just a couple of weeks ago I was given a folder of photographs from the 90s when my company built a new building for our growing business. Among the construction photos I discovered a few from even earlier, in the mid 80s when my partner and I were just starting our business. The photos were production photos of one of our earliest paid video productions. Jon had us produce videos showing the outdoor power equipment in action that the company he worked for made. He drove a trailer full of the equipment down to Athens, accompanied by his young son Jonathan. He could have had a northern Ohio company do conveniently do the work, but he made the extra effort just to bring the work to us. That photo brought back a lot of memories, and I set it aside to bring up to Cleveland on my first post-Covid visit to back.
It was a shock to hear about Jon when Kim called a couple of days ago, and I will miss him greatly.
David I enjoyed reading your fun times with Jon. He was a very nice guy in high school and I do remember his instant love for Kim. it is very hard to see these posts of one of our classmates who has passed away. May all his memories bring laughter and love to his family.
I'm so sorry to hear this news! I knew Jon all through school and then became friends with his wife Kim, who was new to Shaker. Dear Kim, I have such fond memories of you and Jay...and send you my condolences!
and Dennis, this picture of the Jr High football team "is worth a thousand words". Seeing others that we have lost (Danny Brillo and Rick Krumlauf,) really hits home! Those were wonderful, fun, carefree days and I hope those memories help us all .
David Burke
Jon was a great person and a long time friend to me. I got to know Jon at Byron and have remained friends ever since. I have many fond memories of adventures, excursions and mishaps from all those years, like the time we went to a Beach Boys concert at the Arena and left immediately afterwards in his VW for Watkins Glen, NY for a US Gran Prix race. We had a weekend of fun, but on Sunday when driving back to Cleveland we got caught speeding in a primative radar trap set up by the locals to grab as much money as possible from the visiting car enthusiasts. We had to go before a Magistrate (in the living room of his house!) and couldn't pay the fine. So in order to get home, Jon put up his watch to get us out. Jon fell for "the new girl" at school and began dating Kim Beibers after she moved to Shaker in our Junior year. I knew he was serious as I saw him do some impressive things for her. I remember that he and I had lunch during the first lunch period and Kim was in the second period. Jon and I would drive to the McDonalds on Kinsman, eat a lunch and get one to go for Kim. He'd park his car on the Oval and turn on the VW's (optional extra) gasoline powered heater which ran independently from the engine. He'd leave a window cracked, place the McDonalds bag on the floor under the hot blast of the gas heater, and lock up the car with the heater running so Kim could come out for her lunch period and get a warm McDonalds meal from his car. Now that's devotion. Then there was the time as seniors we took some time (i.e. skipped class) and picked up his older, college-aged friend's British sports-race car in Beechwood and drove it around Shaker. Now this was not a street legal car, having open exhaust (loud) and sat about 24" high at its tallest (invisible). Of course Jon wanted to drive it all the way to Larchmere by Shaker Square to show off to Kim. That crazy drive was risky because the car was really just a ticket waiting to happen - but we lucked out.
A few years later I went to visit Jon at Belknap College in New Hampshire to ski during Spring Break. Jon lost the keys to his VW just before I got there, but we figured out a plan, bought two toggle switches at the hardware and wired one to the ignition wire and one to the starter wire, bypassing the key lock. Jon liked that idea because it meant that he started it like you do an ariplane, one switch to turn on the ingnition and then the second to activate the starter motor. We didn't miss a minute of sking. Over the years we stayed in touch, and I would try to see him whenever I could on trips to visit family in Cleveland. We haven't seen each other for a couple of years, but just a couple of weeks ago I was given a folder of photographs from the 90s when my company built a new building for our growing business. Among the construction photos I discovered a few from even earlier, in the mid 80s when my partner and I were just starting our business. The photos were production photos of one of our earliest paid video productions. Jon had us produce videos showing the outdoor power equipment in action that the company he worked for made. He drove a trailer full of the equipment down to Athens, accompanied by his young son Jonathan. He could have had a northern Ohio company do conveniently do the work, but he made the extra effort just to bring the work to us. That photo brought back a lot of memories, and I set it aside to bring up to Cleveland on my first post-Covid visit to back.
It was a shock to hear about Jon when Kim called a couple of days ago, and I will miss him greatly.
Judith Helf (Fishman)
David I enjoyed reading your fun times with Jon. He was a very nice guy in high school and I do remember his instant love for Kim. it is very hard to see these posts of one of our classmates who has passed away. May all his memories bring laughter and love to his family.
Dennis Bayer
Byron Junior High
RIP Number 86
Julie Hendricks (Gerhardt)
I'm so sorry to hear this news! I knew Jon all through school and then became friends with his wife Kim, who was new to Shaker. Dear Kim, I have such fond memories of you and Jay...and send you my condolences!
and Dennis, this picture of the Jr High football team "is worth a thousand words". Seeing others that we have lost (Danny Brillo and Rick Krumlauf,) really hits home! Those were wonderful, fun, carefree days and I hope those memories help us all .
Dennis Bayer
Also, Jim Wolfson and Bob Kidd
Judith Helf (Fishman)
Dennis this team picture is a real treasure. So glad you shared it. Who is sitting next to you#86?
Jody Bernon (Wainer)
So sad we have lost so many.
Dennis thanks for the wonderful photo.