God.
Through his service to God, his country and his family, Jon truly lived out his faith daily.
His teammates called him ‘Chief’ and he always made the simple moments feels like a celebration. I called him Jon. Other times I just called him ‘Farmer.’
Sergeant First Class Devin Robert DeFeo, Jon’s Best Friend
“A fitting name. Like the twelve apostles who were fishers of men, Jon was a tiller. He was a tiller of men. He sowed goodness in others.
“Jon always saw and brought out the best in us. In the Lord’s good book, Jesus tells us that you can tell the worth of someone by their fruit. He reaped happiness and wholesomeness everywhere he went.”
Country.
Jon believed there are two types of men in this world: those who serve and those who wished they had. He spent a couple of years in finance after college, but wanted to do more in the wake of the attacks on September 11th, so he enlisted and began 14 years of service to the country he loved.
Jon, 37, who was born in Boynton Beach and attended The Benjamin School, served multiple overseas combat tours and was awarded some of the Army’s highest honors, including a Purple Heart and three Bronze Star medals for exceptional achievements in a combat zone.
At 6’5” Jon was a larger-than-life presence. Gentle and loving, he treated everyone with respect.
He cherished the Special Forces Motto: De Oppresso Liber, “to liberate the oppressed.” He loved the parallels this phrase had with faith. For what does God want for us more than to be free from the oppression of sin and fallenness.
Jon went into the fray to test himself, to prove to himself that he was capable, to be better for us all.
Never was this more apparent than in Jon’s interactions with the women and children of the enemy. He treated them with respect and afforded them the benefit of the doubt. He offered them grace and extended a hand when he could. He saw in their faces those of his wife and children, as only a warrior with a heart like his would.
Family.
Husband. Father. Son. Brother. Friend. These were the titles Jon cherished most and worked each day to honor.
He was the husband Tabitha dreamed of before she’d even met him. He was the father she prayed he could be.
Jon was the son and brother a family could be proud of, and the the kind of friend who made everyone feel like family.