With great sadness, our community has lost another of our long time members. Dr. Jon Weinberg passed away on Tuesday, September 12th. We remember Jon competing with and against friends for many years, in addition to having a distinguished career and fine family.
Jon's son, Scott Weinberg, kindly sent us an obituary about his father. You can read the remembrance below, along with information about an upcoming Celebration of Life for Jon, and memorial donations.
Scott also shared the photo of his dad above, as he and Jon enjoyed a Twins game.
Our condolences to Scott and all the rest of Jon's family. And we will miss seeing Jon at the table.
Dr. Jon R. Weinberg
Age 83, of Minneapolis, MN and Scottsdale, AZ, died on September 12, 2017. Born in Cleveland, OH on April 15, 1934. Preceded in death by parents Alice and Larry, brother Robert. He earned a B.A. Degree from Oberlin College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. Moving to the Twin Cities in 1958, he considered himself a Minnesotan ever after.
In his career as a Clinical Psychologist, he combined private practice with public service. He worked at mental health centers in Rochester and St. Paul, serving as director at the latter. From 1970 until retirement in 1997, he was with Hennepin County's Chemical Health Program. He served as a Clinical Professor in the department of Medical School Psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Weinberg was an author of publications aimed at educating professionals about alcohol and drug issues, which appeared in medical, legal, and social work journals. He authored self-help booklets for recovering people and their families. He served as editor and chief writer for the quarterly publication of the Minnesota Association for Chemical Health, for which he also served as president.
He received awards for his 25 years of work as a volunteer for the Walk In Counseling Center. As a volunteer for Robbinsdale School District #281, he tutored English language learners. Jon was a member of the Twin Cities Oberlin Alumni Club and served as president.
Jon greatly enjoyed a wide variety of music, from pop to rock (Beatles, Bruce, R.E.M.); traditional Irish and much more. His clear favorite, however, which he fell in love with at first sound in 1955, was the great classical instrumental music of north India. He acquired a tabla (drums) in 1958, finally getting proper lessons in 1972. He was privileged to know the late Sitar Master, Ravi Shankar, for 50 years.
He loved theater, and acted in community theaters for 25 years. Of 30 roles, several won acting awards and positive reviews. He most treasured the role of George in “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Jon was a duplicate bridge master; tournament bridge was his passion. He was successful, winning 3000 ACBL Master Points, of which 1,000 were gold.
As an avid admirer of art, he acquired an extensive collection: paintings, prints, and fine arts and crafts in clay, wood, glass, metal, and photography. The great majority of all these works were purchased directly from the artist, many of whom became his friends.
Jon was a whiz at table tennis and bicycling until mobility issues after age 80 forced curtailment. He will be remembered by many for his humor. His dry wit produced endless streams of spontaneous wordplay, puns and facetious remarks, all delivered deadpan.
Married for 30 years to Barbara McKernan. Also survived by sister, Carol Small, of Cleveland, OH; children Scott and Elise Weinberg; stepchildren Julie Meyer (Tony) and David Meyer (Jill); beloved grandchildren Rashaun Kartak, Matthew and Anna Thal, and Hannah and Andrew Meyer; nieces and nephews.
Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, September 22, 2017 from 10 am to 1 pm at the Cremation Society of Minnesota. Located at 7110 France Ave S, Edina, MN. Memorials preferred to: Second Harvest Heartland Foodshelf, Planned Parenthood, or donor's choice.
Over the past number of years Jon has been my "second partner." He was a fascinating man with so many interests as you can see from his obituary. He was also very much a gentleman. And although he played as vanilla a card as one can find these days, he was an extremely fine player that proved that sound bidding judgment, excellent declarer play and sound defense is all you need to get consistently great results. I will miss him.
Posted by: Paul Gutterman | September 17, 2017 at 07:30 PM
Jon took me under his wing when I turned up in Minneapolis as a wandering Brit. He and Paul were my main partners in the eight years I spent with you. We had some success, I still have a photo on my bookshelf of the Apostles four (Jon, Paul, Peter and Mary(Anne) after a winning teams session at the regional. He was always the kindest and most sympathetic of partners even in the face of English misunderstandings, which fortunately didn't happen often.
Posted by: Peter Litchfield | September 19, 2017 at 06:01 AM