Jon F. Depew

July 22, 1944 - January 19, 2019 Jon DePew was a true Renaissance man. He excelled as an artist, a ceramicist, a builder, a mechanic, and a visionary. Every project he embraced began with his insatiable curiosity, coupled with his exacting high standards about how it must be completed.Jon was born in Dayton, Ohio, on July 22, 1944 to Reo and Mina DePew. He spent most of his young life in Alburquerque, New Mexico, where he met many of his life long friends. After Jon attended Eastern New Mexico University, he studied art at UCLA and Otis Art Institute, where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts. He taught kiln building at Otis and worked as a kiln builder and a ceramacist. In the 1970's, in Old Town Pasadena, a gathering place for many other young artists, Jon launched his Open Planes Pottery Shop.Jon carried a love for work that grew out of the Craftsman era. In the 1980's, he worked at Gardner Furniture, specializing in creating Arts and Crafts reproductions. A Craftsman-style bench, containing a time capsule, created by Jon and Tom Gardner for the 1986 Pasadena Centtennial is housed in the Pasadena Central Library. Jon and his life partner, Deborah Shepler, found a Craftsman house of their own in 1986. The house required extensive renovation, which Jon orchestrated over the years to bring it back to its original Craftsman authenticity.Jon's career at JPL began in 1986. He was fascinated by the scope of his projects. He carried a sense of pride about his work in the building and assembly of hardware both for space flight and for advanced technology development. Jon was always eager to work and learn new concepts. His bright spirit spilled onto everyone on the team. He contributed to a number of flight projects, including NASA United States Microgravity Lab-1 Space Shuttle program with former astronaut Eugene Trinh. Even well past his retirement in 2010, Jon kept a keen interest in the continuing work at JPL.In addition to all Jon's life accomplishments, perhaps he will be best remembered by his easy smile, his sincerity, his out going nature and his loyalty as a friend. Jon was a natural teacher and could explain the most complex concepts in an accessable way.His life-long acquaintances stayed in the center of his life. All of us miss the friendship, the aesthetics and the many pleasures that Jon DePew generosly brought into our lives.Jon died unexpectedly of heart failure on January 19, 2019. He is survived by his life partner of 34 years, Deborah Shepler, his brother Ren DePew of Tijeras, New Mexico, and his cousin Steve Richardson (Donna Rabin) of Coos Bay, Oregon.A celebration of his life will be held at a future date.Contributions in his name can be sent to Planned Parenthood, the organization Jon had supported for many years.