Jon Vincent Caples

1953 - 2022

CAPLES, JON VINCENT
October 14, 1953 - April 3, 2022

Jon Caples will be remembered for his sense of humor and love of aviation. Jon passed away April 3, 2022, at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree CO after a lengthy illness. He was 68.
A native of Brunswick, Georgia, Jon earned two bachelor's degrees - Electrical Engineering Technology from Savannah State University (1976), General Studies from Roosevelt University (1985) - and a masters' degree in Computer Systems Management from the University of Southern California (1987). After Naval ROTC at Savannah State, Jon was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1976. He served at posts in Florida, California, Alaska, and Hawaii specializing in anti-submarine warfare and intelligence. While in the Naval Reserve in Denver, Jon provided intelligence analysis to the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Space Command, during Operation Desert Storm. He retired from the Navy in 1998 with the rank of Lt. Commander.
Jon washed airplanes as a teenager to pay for flying lessons. He also joined the Civil Air Patrol, earning several national awards as a cadet, and later served as Standards and Evaluation Officer for CAP's Colorado Wing.
Jon moved to Colorado in 1985 and was an engineer at Martin Marietta, now Lockheed Martin Corp. He joined United Airlines Flight Center in Denver in 1991 as an Academic Instructor for the B-757/767 fleet. He also maintained aircrew training materials for the DC-10 fleet and revised software for the B-757 computer-based training.
In 1997, Jon earned his ATP rating and was hired by Mesa Air Group Inc., where he was First Officer and Captain on the Beechcraft 1900. In 2001, he moved to Air Wisconsin Airlines as pilot of the Dornier 328.
As an aircraft performance engineer, Jon worked at Jeppesen Corp., his own company and Jordan Aviation in Amman, Jordan.
He enjoyed flight instructing and was named Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year FAA Northwest Region in 1995. He was a volunteer docent with the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum's Exploration of Flight Center.
Jon's love of photography began in the studio of his parents, Ben and Ruth Caples in Brunswick, who predeceased him. He was also a dedicated HAM radio operator and shared his knowledge at Ham Radio Outlet in Denver.
Jon is survived by his wife Jeanie Stokes and his dog Scooter, three sisters, nieces and nephews in Georgia. He has two daughters, Amanda Duffendack (Jeff) of Parker CO and Karyn Smith (Jared) in Cheyenne WY, and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held April 28 at 2 p.m. at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, 8545 E. Dry Creek Road in Centennial and will be livestreamed. Inurnment at Ft. Logan National Cemetery in Denver will be May 3 at 2:15 p.m.
A full obituary may be found at www.horancares.com/obituary/Jon-Caples