Jon Olsen Northrop

Jon Olsen Northrop was born December 17,1943 in Honolulu, Hawaii. If you didn’t know already, his name was spelled J.O.N, and Jon liked to joke that this was because he had the “H” kicked out of him. He was also bemused by the fact that his first name and his initials were both JON. Jon was born on a Friday and he would often quote the 19th Century nursery rhyme “Monday’s Child” that predicted a Friday’s Child to become loving and giving, indeed that was true of Jon. His parents, Lowell and Irene, had three sons, Lowell, Jon and Alex. Their family moved to Southern California where Jon enjoyed surfing, gymnastics, and horseback riding.

Jon was a lifelong avid reader, and his dear friend Dr. Howard Boone affectionately called him Mr K.I.A. – short for Know It All – because Jon had an amazing ability to recall a broad range of facts with uncanny detail on virtually any topic he had ever read about.

Jon loved his friends and family profoundly and one of the ways he enjoyed showing his love was through his talent for cooking. He went out of his way to make people loaves of his famous French bread which he ONLY made at his home in Lake Tahoe because he believed that the sub optimal water and low altitude of his southern California home did not do his recipe justice. Jon was locally famous for two recipes, and if you ever had the joy of tasting them, I’m sure you can testify that his kumquat cheesecake and sweet potato pecan pie were among the best desserts you’ve ever had.

Jon worked on the Stock Exchange and then moved to Lake Tahoe with his wife, Linda and their son, Kevin. In Tahoe, he worked with his dad for many years. He later owned his own snow removal business and served on the Alpine Meadows Water Board and the TTSA Board. Tragically, in 1999 his wife, Linda, passed away from cancer. Selflessly, after her passing she let Jon know that she wanted him to find love again and urged him to look up his college sweetheart, Carole Fenoglio. Indeed, he did. In 2000, Jon and Carole were married, and Jon gained an additional son and daughter in Carole’s two children, Tom and Kristine. Jon and Carole later moved back to Southern California, to be closer to many of their friends and family. Jon highly regarded his four grandchildren, Abbygail, Caden, Colin and Vaughn. He often and proudly spoke of them with a sparkle in his eye.

Despite heroically enduring MS for the last two decades of his life, Jon remained joyful and optimistic spreading love to everyone he met. If you’ve known Jon in the last two decades you will know that at any given moment, he could tell you, to the day, how long he had been married to the love of his life, Carole. Poetically, Jon passed away on January 21st of this year, the 24th anniversary of their marriage.