Eulogies from Jonathan's Horace Mann friends

Brandon Weiskopf

I feel so fortunate that I was able to share an education with Jon from 1985 at Horace Mann to 2005 at Emory. I am going to share some thoughts and memories of Jon during our high school years, as this is the time when I knew him best.

At Horace Mann, Jon was the Big Man on Campus. It mattered not whether we were freshmen or seniors, everyone in school knew who he was. He was extremely popular. I remember being jealous when we were 15 when the upperclassmen would drive him down the hill to get lunch.

Jon was the social organizer of our group of friends. He was the guy that put our nights together. He made the phone calls to the guys and told us where we were eating dinner and what club we were going to afterward.

His parent's apartment was a staple of our teenage years. Not only was his bedroom a meeting place for us before heading out at night, but his basement would be home to hrs upon hrs of basketball on friday and saturday afternoons.

Going out to the bars and clubs with Jon was always a great night out. His pickup lines were usually hilarious.Jon loved watching movies, Seinfeld, and playing Madden football. He also loved anything that was produced by Bad Boy Records. The kid probably knew every word to every song that biggie released.

He loved wearing Ralph Lauren clothes. Seeing Jon without a polo insignia in high school would have been extremely rare.

Jon's personality swung across the spectrum. On the one end he was an ultra competitive and hard hitting football player and on the other end soft and giggly. Of all the things when I think about Jon, what stands out most, is his smile. It was one of a kind. He loved to laugh and you could hear it from across the room.

Jon was a fierce friend. He would do anything for the ones he deemed worthy of being his friend. I will always cherish the great amount of time we were able to spend together.

____

Zach Rose

Three things boldly standout when I remember Kleier:

The immediate thing that comes to mind is his laugh. Kleier’s laugh was involuntary and contagious, endlessly filling nights that we spent together. He appreciated and recognized the comedic awkwardness of day to day life, and had no reservations in pointing them out. If you spilled coffee on your shirt or stepped in dog crap, Kleier was the first person to tell you so.The next is his competitive fire. Between the goal posts on 246th St no one, and I mean no one ran the ball harder between the tackles. Junior linebackers would consistently walk off the practice field complaining about his hits and this kid was playing OFFENSE. He took no plays off. Our senior year, Kleier led the infamously abominable Horace Mann football team to an Ivy League Championship game against Dalton. After rushing for over 150 yards and two touchdowns (all the while playing middle linebacker) they tragically lost on a last second drive. What I remember has nothing to do with the score but my brother, a freshman on the team who Jon always looked out for, telling me how Jon wept afterwards, unable to walk off the field for some time. His passion inspired coaches and student athletes and took Horace Mann football to an emotional place it had never been before.

The last is his presence. Over the last day our Horace Mann crew has not left each other’s side. Through the years we have gone through a lot but the look on people’s faces over the last 24 hours has been indescribable. We lost one of our boys. There are so many memories and as painful as it is to think about it that is all we have done. We have laughed and we have cried. What we have come to recognize is that we wouldn’t all be friends were it not for Kleier. Once you became friends with Jon, you were a blood brother in his mind. No one else’s opinion meant anything to him, his loyalty in friendship was unquestionable.

So thank you Jon, for everything. We will never forget.

________
Eulogy for Jon Kleier
8 September 2009
Eddie Einbinder


Afternoon,

The important thing to recognize is that Jon’s death is a horrible tragedy, of course for us, his friends, but much more to him and his family, to whom we offer our heartfelt sympathy.

All of us at Horace Mann got to grow up with Jon through different stages of childhood.

The consensus of his former classmates I've spoken with in the last few days is that no matter what, Jon was a great person to have on your team. Whether in competition on the field, in debate covering topics from AP Econ to The Sopranos, and especially as a loyal, best friend. This kid did not lose. His capacity for hard work towards his passions was tremendous. This, in combination with his raw talent, made him a force to be reckoned with.

His appetite for competition was insatiable. We'll never forget his ability to convince an authority figure, girl, or barkeep of anything. Or how, with such ease and grace, he could trample through and over countless opponents on a crowded field, making it to the end-zone for a joyous celebration. It was these moments in which his teammates, spectators and adversaries were truly in awe of him. I saw him get knocked down ONCE. It was a hit and run by a taxi cab. Jon, of course, effortlessly stood up and laughed it off.

There are very few people with whom I could spend such extended periods of time without getting bored. Always interesting and interested in everything. He could make you laugh without saying a word. His personality was larger than life. His presence could not go un-noticed. He was undoubtedly the fun of the party.

He loved writing, comedy, socializing, technology and sports. He loved his friends and family. He was loyal and true. And he did whatever was necessary to accomplish his goals. This is a quality that I respect and admire. While some people may view it as morally flexible, I think it's often a characteristic that’s invaluable in a close friend. Having to write this and think back to all of our time together, I'm forced to realize how much of an effect he really had on my life, and I'm sure on the lives of all his loved ones.

Both through inspiring and encouraging me to take my work in different, new directions, and the countless times he actually got me out of trouble. He introduced me to writing for fun, as opposed to it being an assignment, in the summer of 2000. His good nature and logic kept me on the ground more times than I'd like to remember. He always thought things out and planned ahead. Last month we had a dinner at Mimi's, where our friends religiously hung out after school as long as we were still taking the school bus. We met to discuss our latest work, he shared with me his creative ideas and all that he planned to do and accomplish in the near future. Of course he guided me to do the necessary research and work to ensure that I’d be as productive as possible. And as always, tried to convince me of, and even teach me, the new computer technology that I should be using.

Clearly, one of the saddest elements of today is that Jon was taken far too soon. As I reflected on my experiences at these ceremonies, usually for a person of a more justifiable age, I thought about how often times a business partner of 20 years or long time friend would stand up and recount the decades of experiences they had together. I find a bit of comfort in being able to say that one of the beautiful things about the friendships we all formed at Horace Mann is that they started at the age of 3 and that the close bonds we formed have lasted more than 20 years themselves.

So while Jon's life has been cut terribly too short, It helps knowing that at an early age, we got to form the sorts of bonds that people look back on as the most significant of their lives. It’s not just I who can say this, but there are 20 or 30 of us in the room today who would tell you the same thing. Jon was loved by many and will be missed by all.

I stand here so depressed, not simply and selfishly that we'll never hang out over pizza and beer again, but more importantly, that we're all now deprived of the limitless creative works that could have been Jon's life. Constantly providing himself with stimulation and happiness, and that could have brought pleasure to so many others. I promise you, it would not have been ordinary. It would have been thought provoking, impressively outrageous, and hysterical. It would have been a fabulous adventure. This is our real loss.

Though, as we often say, the death of a person is supposed to be a celebration of their life - whatever life they were afforded to live. And we can all be happy knowing that Jon, I know for a fact, lived at least the majority of his time here, as a happy kid. Doing what he wanted to do. Embarking on great endeavors and adventures, never being afraid of anything. Succeeding at the types of triumphs that most people get to see only in the movies. Always trying to mix it up. He had fun. He played ball.

That is what's certain. When I knew him best, he had a life in which dreams come true. This we can be thankful for. Even amidst the tears of the last few days, there's been endless storytelling, with Jon as the lead character, and we're able to laugh. I'm sure we all have our favorite tales. I'm happy that I have such a good friend to remember.

Thank you.