Had breakfast this morning with B&Per Anthony Nichols, known on B&P as ALN. He’s from Idaho, visiting Dearborn MI with his fam, and drove down to NE Ohio to meet up with me. We haven’t seen each other since the BABBQ in STL 13 yrs ago. Had a nice meal, then drove up to Huntington Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks on Lake Erie. Mucho haze drifting over the Great Lakes this morning from the Canadian wildfires. Anthony then was able to spend the day dawdling his way back to the Detroit area along the lakeshore. Another example of the neighborhood feeling that Jonco enabled with Bits & Pieces to still continue. A nice legacy.
As you know, Dad’s friend Derek got two kitties recently and named one of them after Dad. He updates his fb page every week with cute kitty content, like this:
“Derek, we’ve been reviewing the report you sent in, and while it was a fascinating read, we were hoping you could provide some clarifiCATion on the several pages that read ‘u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7u7…'”
He was the son of the late Benjamin and Ruth. He was preceded in death by his nieces; Melissa and Renee, and his grandbaby Samantha. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Pat, son Dave (Staci), daughter Kris (Seth), brother Paul (Janis) sister-in-law Gail (Mike), as well as his grandchildren; Renly (Melanie), Seth (Sarah), Vince (Mady), and Logan (Joe). He was also loved by many nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family, friends, and more.
Jon and wife, Pat, owned a series of small grocery stores in St. Louis City for 40 years. He always had a passion for computers and any sort of tech, and upgrading to the latest and greatest. He was a people person and loved communicating, from starting his own newspaper as a child to building web-sites, to writing blogs that are viewed worldwide. He was a loyal, long-time member of the Brotherhood of Gluttons and loved getting together with his Glutton friends. He was a father figure and mentor to many – always willing to lend an ear and give the most open-minded advice he could, even if it wasn’t what you wanted or expected. He loved his dog, Buster. He especially loved getting together with family and playing games.
He and Pat visited 48 states together, most notably an Alaska cruise for their 50th anniversary. He loved all things to do with St. Louis, and they had many dates there. He was a modern-day explorer – searching and scouring the web for entertaining bits and pieces to share with his thousands of blog followers. He celebrated talent in all forms. He was extremely creative, smart, witty, and loved being behind a camera or microphone. He was a story teller, a eulogy giver, a trivia master, a foster parent, a pro shopper, a videographer, a movie lover and movie maker, a magic enthusiast, an Elvis fan, a dinner group member, a photo-bomber, a drone pilot, an athletic supporter, a teacher, a learner, an inventor, a thinker and a consumer of all parts of life. He loved adventure; flying, skydiving, hot air balloon riding, scuba diving, motorcycling, and driving his Tesla. Above all, he was a humorist – he looked for the funny in everyday life.
His list of life advice for others (in his own words): “Find things to laugh about. Spend time with family and friends. Don’t let someone ruin your day. Treat people the way you want to be treated. How you react to things that happen in life is much more important than the things that happen. Practice random acts of kindness. Pay for someone’s meal at a restaurant drive-thru. Remember that you’re not always right and they’re not always wrong; people say things from their own perspective.”
Jon supported many causes and especially those causes that were important to his friends and family, so in that regard – any donations should be directed to your local charity of choice.
On September 30, 2011, just over a decade ago, “Going to Pot” the first Friday Firesmith appeared. I was guided to “Bits and Pieces” by a friend of mine who read it first thing every morning, to set the mood of the day, and I had been around for a while before I became part of the activity.
The first time Jon and I traded emails I had written him to say thanks for the site. I knew how much work went into making something like that happen, and he replied that he enjoyed it, and we talked about the process of what he posted and why. Jon was one of the very few personalities who were actually who they appeared to be. I had lunch with Jon and his wife many years ago, as they were traveling through the state. Both Jon and his wife seemed to ease into a conversation with anyone, warm, friendly, pleasant to be around, nice to waitstaff, and full of stories of being on the road, in one manner or another. We always talked about doing it again, and had not the plague reared its ugly head, I would have made it to Vegas.
Most of you who have been around for a long time remember the puppy I found back in 2009. He wasn’t in as bad shape as he might have been for a stray, but Lucas became my dog, and as a Weimaraner, Lucas was photogenic and beautiful. Full of life, and sometimes full of mischief, Lucas was fun to write about. In October of 2013, I found a lump on Lucas’ on the gum his right canine tooth. The first vet I went to see told me it was cancer, and all we could do was go home and wait for Lucas to die. After a week of despair, I decided to go to another vet. He told they could operate, but it would take thousands of dollars, and it had to be upfront. I maxed out credit cards and wrote a large check. I was getting ready to sell my truck, refinance my house, and pick up a second job.
Jon called me. He had been following the story on my blog, and Jon said he wanted to launch a crowd fund from Bits and Pieces. To make a long story short, Jon saved my house, my truck, and from abject poverty. Jon, and many of the people who are reading this right now, donated money for Lucas the Loki Mutt, and for that I will always be grateful, more grateful than I will ever be able to express, and I will never forget it.
Jon introduced me to friends I might have never met. People I have met in person now. The crowd fund sent people to me I would never get to meet, but the house in which I’m writing this right now belongs to a woman I met through that effort, and that may yet to prove to be the most interesting story that comes of Jon’s efforts in my life.
Jon united people and created a world in which laughter was the currency, and off the wall videos and photos was the geography. Jon brought joy into the lives of people who needed it, and he created a community of friends. He was more than some random guy running a website, he was human, he was someone you could talk to, and he was my friend. I never argued with Jon if he wanted to edit out a post, or simply delete it. That happened once in ten years, and I didn’t blink an eye. Jon was a man I trusted. I trusted his vision and insight more than I trusted my own.
In my life, I’ve never known anyone like Jon, ever. A singular personality in the world where so many are not, Jon was the real deal. He was who he appeared to be, and he was one of the best human beings I have ever met in my life.
This is goodbye, Jon. The world is a lesser place for you moving on, and I am diminished for the loss. But everyone who ever knew you was a better person for it, and whatever greets you on the other side, that place too, will become better. Because in the end, that was what you did best, is make the world a better place.
