Jon Jouvenal, 82, passed away on Jan. 31, 2026. He was born on Jan. 16, 1944 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Silver Spring, MD. Jon was the seventh generation of the Jouvenal family to call the area home and he was deeply proud of the family's history.

Jon descended from a line of sculptors, who carved notable Washington landmarks. The work includes the capstone of the Washington Monument, the Ben Franklin statue outside the Old Post Office Pavilion and a bust of Aaron Burr in the Capitol. Jon loved to reminisce about that legacy and decorated his office with photos and newspaper clippings that featured his ancestors and their carvings.

He attended Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Maryland, before completing college at American University in D.C. and spending time in the Army Reserves. He married his wife of 57 years, Frances Dobyan, in 1968.

Jon spent most of his career working as an office products salesman, a natural fit for his gregarious personality and booming voice. He loved to talk to people and tell stories, particularly about a bygone era when the D.C. was a "small southern town" as he put it. He told of how he would sneak on D.C.'s trolleys as a kid and ride to Glen Echo amusement park, watch the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium and spend idyllic summers in sleepy Leonardtown, MD on the Eastern Shore.

He loved food and drink, and would recount his favorite meals at length.

Jon was dedicated to his family and community. He took his two sons on fishing trips to a remote village near Hudson Bay in Canada and to the Chesapeake. He spent much time with his sister's four boys after her husband died, and ran a recreational basketball league for Catholic schools. He was renowned for his annual Christmas light displays -- and his "football roll" off the ladder onto the driveway while hanging strings one year became family legend.

He was also famous in the family for telling young relatives he was going to put them in the oven. The joke became a rite of passage.

Jon was preceded in death by his sister, Faith Adkins. He is survived by his wife, Frances; his three children, Justin, Robert and Jackie as well as their spouses; seven grandchildren, Emma, Wyatt, Finn, Asha, Arun, Jack and Will; and numerous other relatives. Most were threatened with the oven at some point.

Jon's funeral will be at Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, MD on Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. He will be buried at St. John Forest Glen Cemetery afterward at noon.