Thomas John Jonas

Thomas John Jonas (1948 – 2023), age 75, passed away peacefully on January 10, 2023 after a long battle with diabetes and vascular dementia at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born January 5, 1948 in Slovakia and immigrated to the United States in 1968, finding his way to Cleveland, Ohio a year later. It was in Cleveland that he visited a social club for fellow Slovaks and met the love of his life Milena Straka, with whom he would build a family and share a life for over 52 years. After living in Ohio for over 47 cloudy and snowy years, he eventually convinced mom to move to Atlanta to spend the rest of their days in the sun closer to more grandchildren. Slovakia is where he was born and Georgia is where he will rest, but for dad, Ohio will always be “home”.

Dad was a self-made man, captivated by machinery and technology, and he could be defined by his work as an IT systems engineer, often working 2 or 3 jobs at a time to ensure that his family were never wanting. He rarely trusted a professional to do a job at a fair price, so he learned to do all the home maintenance skills himself, including electrical wiring, sink installation, roofing, driveway resurfacing, car brake replacement, oil changes, and much more. He even had his kids go with him up on the roof, under the car, or into the city to the office, working alongside him…sometimes trying to help him figure out why the car still worked even with several nuts and bolts still on the pavement. We watched him handle all the problems, like the time a raccoon died stuck in the backyard fence. We cringed at his jokes, never passing up the opportunity to be a cheeky contrarian when offered payment options by a cashier. We appreciated him teaching us how to ice skate and play soccer. We were fascinated by his celebration of a fresh tomato from the vegetable garden he loved to tend. We adopted his loyalty and love of cheering for lost causes like Cleveland sports teams. We marveled and rejoiced at the sight of him doting on his grandchildren. And we wept tears of grief and relief for him as we huddled around his bed admiring and remembering what he had cultivated and grown in his most important garden, his family.

We hope heaven is “just like downtown!”, dad. We miss you.

Thomas is preceded in death by his father George and mother Maria. He is survived by his wife Milena, sister Anna, brothers Milan and George, son Thomas Paul (Robin), daughter Christine Jonas O’Brien (Colin), son Justin (Allison) and grandchildren Alice, Sydney O'Brien, Avery O'Brien, Thomas Clark, Hazel and many nieces and nephews in Slovakia. Thomas will be remembered in a private family ceremony at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association to support dementia research.