Posted by Ken Kurtis on August 31, 2001 at 18:32:18:
I'm sorry to be the one to pass along the sad news that diving pioneer Jon Hardy, long a fixture on Catalina as well as someone truly instrumental in helping the dive industry grow, died Wednesday afternoon after a short battle with cancer.
Jon was actively involved with NAUI and SSI, served on the Diving Control Board for the Aquarium of the Pacific, and was probably best known as the driving force behind Rodale's "ScubaLab," testing out and evaluting dive gear for the magzine and then writing about it. Jon also wrote a column for Rodale's analyzing dive accidents and gave many talks and seminars about dive safety and what we could learn from accidents. Jon's years of experience and expertise also enabled him to serve as an expert witness in legal actions. He was always one who was more than eager to share his knowledge and experience and, on a personal level, someone who I considered a friend.
The first timne I met Jon was in 1980 when he came out to Richmond, Virginia, to do a crossover to SSI for the instructors at our shop. Jon had never done any quarry diving before and was surprised (and not pleasantly so) at the conditions that we had for the two days he spent at Gum Springs Quarry. For the next 21 years, every time I saw Jon, he'd always pull somone over and point me out as the guy who forced him to endure the crappoy conditions of Gum Springs. We always had a good laugh over that.
Cards or letters can be sent to Jon's family at:
P.O. Box 2289, Avalon CA 90704 . . . or . . . 4692 Carpenteria Ave., #4, Carpenteria, CA 93013.
Donations can be made in Jon's memory to:
Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, P.O. Box 5069, Avalon, CA 90704 . . . or . . . Avalon Hospital, P.O. Box 1563, Avalon, CA 90704.
A memorial service for Jon will be held Saturday, September 22, at 5:00PM, at Buena Vista Pointe in Avalon. All interested parties are invited to attend.
Ken Kurtis
NAUI Instr. #5936
Co-owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverly Hills, Ca.