One year ago today the world lost a wonderful human being and one of my best friends. Today at work I put some Phish on Spotify and couldn’t make it through the first song without getting overly emotional. For all the memories I remember and the memories I’ve forgotten, Jon was usually right there with me.
-Rest in peace brother.
We are in St. Helena Island SC…my friend gave us her beach house for two weeks…it’s awesome! Lots of windows…great views…and this tide that comes in and goes way way way out! We are here until after the new years. Steve is doing better each day!
Today we took Jon to the beach…yes he came with us via spirit….and I took him to the water’s edge….he says MERRY Christmas to all!
Madelyn has put together a wonderful 2016 calendar featuring photos from Jon’s aquarium. They are available by sending a check to:
Jon Roehrig Memorial Fund
PO Box 12582
Pittsburgh, PA 15241
We’re asking $20 – $30 for each calendar, plus shipping ($3.20 for 1 calendar, $5.75 for 2-5 calendars). Please include your name and address where you want the calendars shipped.
Stephen and I would like to thank you so much for your donation to support the National Association of Mental Illness, City Mission, and the turtles…
I met with the director/curator at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium today. He was so impressed with Jon’s corals from the calendar photos. His staff will work on identify the names to include on the calendar.
While I was there in the back room with all the tanks and filtrations systems I know Jon was with me…and I know his spirit is there helping them with their corals…cause it would have been a perfect place for him to work with corals. Skyler, one of their coral curators showed me a tiny coral polyp that she got off the coast of Florida…cause she is trying to save the reefs there by propagating them at the zoo then bringing them back to Florida to keep the reefs alive. This is what Jon wanted to do ! ! ! and I know he is there with her to help in spirit ! !
Will send you the calendar when it’s complete…and thank you !
LOVE Madelyn and Stephen
Topsail Island, North Carolina @ 34° 20.921′ N – 77° 36.233′ W
Burial Day Monday April 20: Jon, Simba, and Bunji Burial on Dare’s Reef
Jon is placed on Dare’s Reef with his favorite cats Simba and Bunji to grow corals and be a safe place for fish to live. I know he loves being there ! with other families and the turtles.
We met at the dock at 7:30 am. The weather turned sunny rather than the predicted thunderstorms. The other members gathered while waiting for state coastal authorities to guide the boat out into the waters for the ceremony.
Steve, Gil (his brother), Kerry (Gil’s granddaughter), and Billy went on the boat. Something told me not to get on the boat cause I get very sea sick….and Erik and Nick decided to stay on land too.
After the boat left the inlet, Erika, Nick and I went to the Jolly Roger Pier across the street from the dock where the boat left – on the other side of the island facing Atlantic Ocean. We went on the Pier and saw the boats way off in the distance and they stopped in front of the pier several miles in the ocean…but we could see the boats as small figures and dots from the pier.
We realized that is where the reef is located straight off the Pier into the ocean…cause the Turtle Rehab Center’s original location was in Topsail at that same location.
While watching…wish we had binoculars ! and saw lots of dauphins dancing around the waves and seagulls passing over.
Nick carved JON’s DIRECTIONAL ARROW…look straight from that arrow and Jon is about 3-4 miles in the ocean from there on Dare’s Reef.
More pictures coming from Billy and Kerry from the boat with the placement of Jon’s cast….what I took was from the Pier looking out to where the boats were doing the burial.
This weekend we say farewell to Jon as we send his ashes into the ocean to become a part of a coral reef. You probably know that coral, fish and all things aquatic were one of Jon’s passions. Here are some pictures of his fish and coral.
On Friday, April 17, 2015 Jon’s ashes (as well as some ashes of his cats Bunji and Simba) were cast into an Eternal Reef, a unique memorial that replaces cremation urns and ash scatterings with a permanent environmental living legacy as a gift to the environment and generations yet to come. The cast is made of cement with an anchor on top. Around the anchor more cement was poured and Madelyn made a fish design with Jon’s initials, J O N R and also their two cats, B for Bunji; S for Simba.
Many family members attended today along with volunteers from the Karen Beasley Turtle Rescue and Rehab facility. http://www.seaturtlehospital.org/ Karen died from leukemia in 1991 at age 29, after starting the rescue center with her mother Jean who now runs the facility. One of their turtles also passed away, and his ashes were also placed into a separate cast.
The dedication is scheduled for April 20, 2015 off the coast of Topsail Island, North Carolina.
Fare thee well, Jon
One of Jon’s passions was his coral. Please enjoy a few of these images from his tank.
