Dr. John Lowell "Jack" von Klar

1964 - 2019

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Dr. John Lowell "Jack" von Klar, 54, died Dec. 24, 2019, at home with his family in Chattanooga, Tenn. after a three-year battle with appendix cancer.

Born July 14, 1964, in New York City, Jack grew up in Stonington and graduated from Stonington High School in 1982. His happiest childhood memories were of attending Camp Watchaug, being a Sea Scout, teaching sailing lessons, and crewing aboard tall ships such as the Black Pearl.

Jack put himself through college, attending the University of Chicago, the College of William and Mary, and the UNC School of Law before graduating from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1991.

He worked as a private physician in St. Michaels, Maryland for a few years before deciding to trade in that relatively quiet life for the bright lights of the emergency department. Jack spent the majority of his career at Pequot Health Center in Groton, before joining Chattanooga Emergency Medicine at CHI Memorial in Chattanooga, Tenn. Everyone appreciated his focused, unflappable approach to any crisis, and he considered his colleagues in both groups to be among the finest with whom he ever worked. Even better, many of these colleagues became like family to him.

Jack was happily married to his wife, Jennifer (Corey) von Klar, for nearly 25 years, and he was the proud father to three children, Xander, Ryker, and Rhiannon von Klar. Besides being a father, Jack's favorite things in life were sailing, biking, learning Kung Fu, getting the whole family on the sofa to watch Survivor, a Red Sox game, or the Patriots win the Super Bowl, collecting comic books, working in the yard, enjoying warm sunny days, and walking his beloved dog, Apollo.

Jack will be fondly remembered for his boundless love of his family, his sometimes irreverent wit, his encyclopedic knowledge of sports, pop culture and random trivia, for the lives he saved over the years, the soft heart he sometimes kept hidden from those who didn't know him well, and finally, for the way he found the strength to appreciate- and stay focused on- all the gifts in his life.

A celebration of his life will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, at Wheeler Library in North Stonington. All are invited to bring a favorite memory to share during the service. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation, in Jack's honor, to Stand Up To Cancer.