Jon Kumnick

Jon F. Kumnick, the honorary Mayor of Guerrero Negro and winner of the coveted Gauntlet award, died peacefully on October 3, 2021. Professionally, Jon was a sales trainer and business adviser. He was also an inveterate [gambler] entrepreneur and pioneer in such varied endeavors as Bucky balls, payroll debit cards, scrip machines, veterinary consortiums, and perhaps too many others—usually about 10 years ahead of his time. His passion for the million-dollar idea started young and never lost its allure for him; his budding entrepreneurship began to blossom with his forays into beer brewing (Schlockbräu) and filmmaking (Endless Summer} with his boys at Sidwell Friends in high school and continued through, e.g., his Chug Boat fundraising efforts with his fratres at William (“Bill”) and Mary.

He was a polished and inspiring speaker, and the consummate storyteller, which made him both a brilliant teacher and a marvelous dinner companion. His presence always brightened a room. Whether guest lecturing on strategic thinking at Stockholm University, coaching sales managers at a Fortune 500 company, or regaling old pals with his latest adventures, Jon was always the perfect blend of spellbinding and amusing, profound and clever, fascinating and self-effacing.

He was cherished as a great connector of people, always willing to help anyone, and generous beyond measure. In fact, there are two confirmed instances of him literally giving away the shirt off his own back. He joyously shared his friends and colleagues with one another. He seemed to know everybody, and everyone seemed to love him. When traveling with him, it was always astonishing—yet so commonplace as to be unsurprising—to hear the excited refrain, “Kumnick, what are you doing here?!” A bullring in Ensenada, a beach in Tel Aviv, a tarmac in Puerta Vallarta, a gas station in St. Louis (after midnight), an airplane to New York, and just about any restaurant or pub in the DC metro area, Virginia Beach, and any Caribbean island with a tiki bar. And from a ridiculously broad spectrum of people. It got to be almost comical, the stuff of legend.

He is survived by his beloved wife Jai, his daughters Katie Troy and Mallory Lakey (and her daughter Lacey), his parents Jim and Betsy Kumnick, his in-laws Bill and Jan Mullis, his two sisters Jenny (and her husband Dave) and Steffanie (and her husband Chris), his brother Brian (and his wife Terry), his nieces and nephews (Jake, Kelsey, Lexi, Jon, and Sophia), and a host of treasured friends, both new and old, near and far, with whom he connected regularly from the Chez Kumnick Conference Center (back deck). He will be as dearly missed as he is fondly remembered by all those whose lives he touched. Godspeed on this journey my dear, beautiful Jon, you magnificent [beast] child of God.

To make a pledge in Jon's memory, please click on the go fund me link below to make a donation to the Jon Kumnick Family Trust:

 https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-loving-memorial-for-jon-frederick-kumnick

"A celebration of Jon's life will be held on Sunday, October 17th in Virginia Beach. Details to follow."