About Jon

Sometimes you meet someone that makes a difference in your life, over the past few months I have been in contact with so many friends, old and new, I’m reminded by everyone what a great man Jon Flowers was and how he impacted their life.  This naturally is a time for sorrow and greif, The kind words from everyone has been greatly appreciated by all of us, It has helped us get through this rough time. THANK YOU!

I sat with my Brother Mike tonight and reflected on the things that made us laugh, that made us cry and generally some of the things that Jon would have wanted us to do. The main thing he would want is for us is to be happy in our lives,  and to make the time to be with family, Not TAKE time, make time. On the trips to his treatment we had several chances to talk about growing up, about family, about friends and how important it was to have that time.   He had a way of seeing the better side of the coin (Its a Flowers thing!).  He told me that I should view being laid off all summer as a chance to bond with my daughter. He reminded me that it is a temporary situation and that I should soak up every second of it. As always, he was right. I’ve learned a lot about raising kids by watching Jon be a great father to Taylor and Travis. I strive to do the same for Jillian. He told me to always be a Dad first and a friend second. That’s exactly what he was - thru dance, scouts, soccer, and the bumps and bruises along the way.  Most of all, the Love that he had for them. I know that he wanted to be around longer to give them more direction in life, to offer his ear to a concerned child, to be the shoulder cry on and also the pillar of support.  He was such a great man.  He encouraged them to be their best, just like he has encouraged all of us to do our best.  Offering encouragement along the way was a specialty of Jon’s, Ask anyone that has worked with him, “SARGE” as he was coined, fit in many ways, tough when he needed to be and understanding when needed as well.  There’s so much more to write.

thanks for listening,

Greg

if you have a story you would like published here for all of us to enjoy, please e-mail it to me. We cold all use some good “Jonny” stories!

November 27 2006

 Link to Obituary here 

Sign the guest book

 

For those who didn’t receive a personal phone call I apologize,

regretfully I have to let you know that Jon has passed away today, November 27th 2006

All services will be held in Davison at the Allen Funeral home on Davison rd.

Allen Funeral Home
9136 Davison Rd
Davison
Michigan 48423
Phone: (810) 653-2171

Wednesday 29th Visitation time 5pm to 9pm

Thursday 30th Visitation time 1pm to 4pm  and   6pm to 9pm

Friday 1st Funeral services 11am

Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society or to His kids College fund.   Information will be at the funeral home for these donations.

Greg

Here is a link to Margie’s blog ( a friend of Jon’s from work)  definitely worth reading!  Click Here

Thanksgiving

This year it seems I didn’t have much to be thankful for, but then when I look deeper at everything, I see that there are so many things that I have overlooked. Every day people are taking for granted some of the small things in life. I know that I have a GREAT family, and I know that no matter how bad things can get, it could be worse.

Jillian and I went to Grandma & Grandpa Flowers for dinner, when we arrived Jillian was dancing around playing with jake (dog) and having a good time playing with her new Mega-Blocks! We had a nice dinner, it occurred to me that we didn’t say Grace, I wasn’t going to say anything since all of our thoughts were in Goodrich where my brother was spending thanksgiving.  I received a birthday gift from my parents and also an early christmas gift from Uncle George & Aunt Linda, They were such  thoughtful gifts that I had a hard time holding back the building tears.  After Dinner was cleared up we all took a drive to go see Jon,

When we got there we had more tears, Jon was sleeping,  he was hooked up to oxygen to help him breath. He has lost so much weight, it was hard to sit there without thinking that I just wanted him to get up, maybe take a walk, just ANYTHING! The realization of what was happening hit me really hard today.

One thing that Jon wanted more than anything was to have a relationship with Jillian, he was concerned that she might not remember him, This is where the”Thanksgiving” comes in,  Jillian was singing and dancing around while Tracy was trying to talk with Jon, Letting him know that we were all there, Mike, Tim, Mom & Dad, Taylor & Travis and Jillian and I.  Well, Jon heard Jillian’s singing, looked up and acknowledged her, when it came time to leave, Jillian said “I want to stay with Jonathan” Tracy and I looked at each other and we stayed a little longer. We both knew what had happened, For a little girl she knows allot, and we ALL know that she will always know and love her Uncle Jon.

Yes, this isn’t fair, its nothing to be thankful for, But We all Love Jon tremendously, and he will always be in out hearts.  When things are presented to us like this, its a natural reaction to be upset, even to be angry, to ask Why? I want to know Jon will be going to a better place, I want to know that everything is going to be okay.

I just Know my Brother, and he wants us to stay strong and continue in life with a smile.

Photo page

The “PHOTO’S” link above is now linked to my Flickr account

Thanks,

Greg

Bullfrogs

Thanks to all the Lear & Toyota people that met up with Jon last friday at Bullfrogs,

It meant alot to him that you were there and that he was able to be there with everyone. 

Pictures

 They say a picture is worth a thousand words!

More Pictures here:

 

Cherry Festival, tubing & good times

Some of the best times we had were the summers we spent going to Traverse City for the Cherry Festival in the mid-‘80’s. I can’t even tell you how many years in a row we did that. But, Jon, Beth Ann, Kim, Kathy, Greg, me, our spouses and friends would head up to TC and stay at a hotel…one year we even rented a condo.

Friday nights were spent going to the carnival in town and watching the fireworks. On Saturday morning after cruising the Cherry Festival parade, we would head out to Ranch Rudolph and go tubing on the Boardman River! We always had some ‘beverages’ in jugs tied to our tubes.

One year in particular Jon had 3 different jugs tied to his tube. By the end of that tube trip Jon was pretty wiped out …..Good thing about tubing is you don’t have to do anything but float! –I have some great pictures of Jon laying on the ground at end our tube trip.

Oh…. those were the days……we always had tons of fun!

Kristi

Undies

I can’t belive I remember this but I must have been 6 or 7 at Jon’s first wedding. We were getting ready to leave the reception so we went to say goodbye and Jon picked me up and when he did he lifted up my dress by accident and showed everyone my undies, at that age I was mortified!!!! It must have been pretty traumatic if I remember it No hard feelings Jon   I still love ya. Hope this puts a smile on your face. Thinking of you….

Amy

Fluid

This morninig Jon went to Genysis to have some fluid removed from his stomach, it eased the pressure on his organs and offered some relief.  He will stay at the Genysis Hospice tonight and if he should be doing better in the morning, he will be able to go home.

I would like to ask anyone who wants to share a story they have about Jon to E-mail it to me : gregory.flowers @ gmail.com  (With a title of course, sometimes titles are the hardest part! like this one… “fluid?” sheesh, I really could have done better.)

Right now everyone is feeling helpless, its an empty feeling, It sucks really- So after you read this, bust out a “Word Document” and start writiing something about Jon,  doesn’t have to be long, just something that makes you smile.  This will help us all!  I’ll put it in its own section and it will be signed with your name!  Make sure you spell-check it, cuz all I’m gonna do is copy-n-paste it here–>

I’ll start with one of the funniest things I can think of…. Kinda bad, but hey!

Its titled BEER-BONG (now you know its gonna be funny)   When Jon had that apartment next door to our Parents place on Carpenter Rd.(Attached to G-Ma Neff’s)  He had a an ocassional Party (I’m using “ocassional” sparingly) This particular party there was a “beer-bong” and those of you that aren’t familiar with it, its a way to down more beer than really should be downed in a matter of seconds…  Okay, I arrive a little late, so things were on there way to being _____ (fill in the blank)____.  Jon, Dave Rowe, Chris Qualman, I think Darrel Tucker was there too along with all of the usuals, Well, they seen me commin a mile away, and convinced me that they have been doing 4 beers at a time ALL night, “I’m IN” so there I was hoisting up a funnel full of whatever beer was there and 3 More than anyone else!  um… I did it, there were looks of astonishment, a few cheers, and then the Foam came….. for about 5 minutes I was a foam fountain!  Not getting sick,  just trying not to blow myself up!  It wasn’t untill a month later that I realized that I was used as a “Tester”

OH… For our YOUNG cousins, We were ALL old enough to drink!

Jon aways took care of me, Let me know that there is always a lesson in anything you do, and to learn from your mistakes.  And that if you say your going to do something, then you better do it.  So what I learned is that if you shake up 1 can of beer it produces a LOT of foam, and 4 beers… disastorious!  

I advise, if there is a Beer-Bong involved. . . Just say NO!