| Graduation Year | Class of 1969 |
| Date of Passing | Aug 07, 2009 |
| About | Jonathan Edmonds March 27, 1951 - Aug. 7, 2009 Jonathan P. "Rump" Edmonds of Huntsville passed away Friday at Huntsville Hospital. He was 58. Jon was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and raised in Berwick, Pa., and Huntsville. A graduate of Lee High School, Jon was always interested in sports, playing both baseball and football, although baseball was his favorite. At age 13, he was scouted by the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as a player with major league potential as a catcher. It was while playing football for Chapman Junior High School that his neck was broken during a game with Joe Bradley Junior High, making him a quadriplegic and confining him to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. He spent two weeks at Huntsville Hospital and was then transferred to the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitative Medicine in New York City, where he met the girl who was to become the love of his life, Martine Berliere, his future fiancée. Following 18 months of treatment in New York, he returned to Huntsville, picked up his studies and graduated on time with the rest of his Class of 1969 at Lee High School. After high school, he went to the University of Illinois, where he graduated with a degree in communications. In 1979, he was hired by the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, as a contract cost/price analyst, where he found his true calling. He got his 30-year pin earlier this year and had told family and friends that he planned to keep working and never retire. He was the recipient of numerous letters of commendation and cash awards and was named the Huntsville-Madison County Disabled Employee of the Year. Jon had a host of friends, now stretched across this country, and each of them, along with his family, have a hole in our hearts which we feel may never heal. He was preceded in death by his father, Richard S. Edmonds of Huntsville. Survivors include his mother, Ruth Edmonds of Huntsville; one brother, Rick Edmonds and sister-in-law Carole Edmonds of Gurley; his fiancée, Martine Berliere of New York City; three nieces, Kim Bray and husband Marc of Harvest, Vickie Rigsby and husband Thom of Huntsville, and Michelle Gibson and husband Steve of Knoxville. Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Berryhill Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Frank Broyles officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Huntsville Humane Society or to a favorite charity. Published in The Huntsville Times on August 9, 2009 |
