FUNERAL PROGRAM
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Led by Linda CrookOPENING
Raphael SoetanP O E M
The Dash by Linda Ellis Read by Craig RintoulSPEAKERS
Corey Lieblein Brad Miller, DO MSgt Michael Gunderson, 161 Mission Group, First Sergeant Virginia Crook Captain Jared Gunnell, 161 Medical Group, Physician Assistant Pratik Patel, MD Major James Taylor, 161 Medical Group, Readiness Officer John TukkerREADING
A Final Goodbye? By Maiah Acker Read by Mike GundersonCLOSING
Maybe Linda if she isn’t crying after Maiah’s essay. We’ll see.OPENING AND CLOSING MUSIC
Jon’s playlist Please feel free to stay and watch the slideshow until 12:00pm. You may stay in the lobby until 1:00pm
Life of Jon Hackenyos, DO
Jonathan William Hackenyos was born at Abington Hospital, Abington, PA, on May 17, 1971 to William Jonathan Hackenyos and Eileen Dougan Hackenyos. As an only child, he grew up with a close relationship to his parents and enjoyed life as a typical suburban child in Horsham, PA.
He participated in various sports in the township and high school. Jon and his dad also were part of a group of dads and sons in the YMCA-sponsored Indian Guides/Trail Blazers. Their tribe continued to meet and plan camping trips until the youth went off to college. The dads maintained their group for many years after. “Jolly Jonnie”, as he was called by his parents in early childhood, had an engaging personality and readily formed deep friendships throughout his life.
Jon graduated from Hatboro-Horsham High School in 1989 and from Syracuse University in 1993. He received his DO degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) in 1999 after simultaneously studying for an MBA which was awarded by St Joseph’s University in 1997. Jon was also a proud Freemason with his father.
Jonathan and Linda Lee Crook were married in May 1997. After completing an internship in Philadelphia, Jon and Linda moved to Arizona where he served a residency in Internal Medicine at St Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, including a year as co-chief
resident in 2003-2004.
–Eileen Hackenyos
Memories of Dr. Hackenyos
JONATHAN W. HACKENYOS, DO, MBA, FAC
Dr. Hackenyos attended Syracuse University where he received his BS in biology in 1993. He was a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine where he received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 1999. During his tenure there he obtained his MBA/Medical Management at St. Joseph’s University in 1997. Dr. Hackenyos completed his Osteopathic Rotating Internship at Mercy Catholic Medical Center in Upper Darby, PA in 2000. He went on to complete his residency in Internal Medicine at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, AZ in 2003. He served as Chief Resident/Junior Faculty at St. Joseph’s from 2003-2004. Dr. Hackenyos was board certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He was a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. His clinical interests were general internal medicine, aerospace medicine and aesthetic medicine.
Since 2010, he served as a physician in the 161st Medical Group of the Arizona Air National Guard as well as a Sr. Medical Examiner for the FAA. Dr. Hackenyos served in several leadership roles with the Arizona Care Network for a number of years including serving as Chair of the Network Development Committee, Vice Chair of the Board and most recently as Chair until July 2020. He was a partner/owner of Ocotillo Internal Medicine Associates, Chandler, AZ.
–Brad Miller, DO (PCOM classmate)
ACN, HEALTHCARE COMMUNITY MOURNS LOSS OF DR. JONATHAN HACKENYOS
Our healthcare community is mourning the loss of Jonathan Hackenyos, DO, who passed away Dec 13.
He co-founded Ocotillo Internal Medicine Associates in Chandler with his partner, Dr. Cheryl Maurice, in 2004, and has participated with Arizona Care Network since ACN’s inception in 2013. Dr. Hackenyos built an exceptional medical practice that has thrived for nearly 20 years, and the providers and staff at Ocotillo Internal Medicine remain committed to providing patients with the level of care he established and sustained over the years.
From 2015 through 2020, Dr. Hackenyos served in several governance roles with ACN, including 4 years as chair of the Network Development Committee (2015-2018). During this time he also served on the Board of Managers, including being elected Vice Chair in 2017.
He transitioned to Board Chair in January 2019, serving in the capacity until illness led him to resign from the Board in July 2020. A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Hackenyos moved to the Valley in the early 2000s, where he began his post-education career at St. Joseph’s Hospital. In subsequent years, he served as a teacher and mentor with a variety of higher education institutions around the Valley, including St. Joseph’s, A.T. Still University, Mercy Adult Health Center, and Midwestern Medical College. He also served as a Lt. Colonel and a physician with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 161st ARW.
He is survived by his wife and three children. On behalf of the Board of Managers and Executive Leadership Team, all of ACN sends its thoughts and condolences to the Hackenyos family, and to the providers and staff at Ocotillo Internal Medicine.
–Todd Ricotta, Executive Director, Arizona Care Network
LT. COL HACKENYOS, DO, AZ AIR NATIONAL GUARD
LtCol (Dr.) Hackenyos entered the Arizona Air National Guard on Dec 4, 2010. He entered as an Internal Medicine physician with the 161st Medical Group and then, upon the completion of the Aerospace Medicine Course, was assigned as the Flight Surgeon for the 161st Operations Group of the 197th Air Refueling Wing.
He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal, AF Longevity Service Medal, Small Arms Marksmanship Ribbon and the AF Training Ribbon. He was also the recipient of the Arizona Service Ribbon and many local awards.
Dr. Hackenyos was an endearing and valued member of the 161st Medical Group and Operations Group. During his last deployment to Guam, with the ongoing covid pandemic, he was the physician advocate for the 161st operations group, overseeing all support staff and pilots. He was a compassionate and caring physician. He treated the Guard as his family, with kindness and compassion. As a physician, flight surgeon, colleague, father, husband and friend–he will be ever missed.
–Col. Brian Dursteler, MD, Commander, 161st Medical Group
THE DASH POEM BY LINDA ELLIS
READ BY CRAIG RINTOUL
A Final Goodbye?
Memories can sometimes be hard to recall on their own. Yet when you look at a picture, you are immediately transported back to a moment in time. Like the picture of my dad and his best friend, Dr. Jon. As I think about that image, the memory comes back to life… that blue sky and sunny day. Everything seemed perfect. But behind that perfect Arizona moment was something tragic. Reflecting on the happy times makes it easier to face hard ones, and this is what I am doing as I remember the day we said goodbye to Dr. Jon.
As we drove up that morning, after thirty days in Arizona, everything seemed to be different, yet somehow the same. The hacienda-style house was still the same, the street was still lined with stucco homes, and the same brightly colored Mexican tiles still ran along the wall. It was still Dr. Jon sitting there, but at the same time he seemed lost. He was on the porch reading a book, and when he got up, his outside features looked the same but all tired out, like a wave knocked him to the ground, his voice was so subtle yet… as he came up to us, it was like a barrier was between us.
“Glad you came by before you headed cross country,” Dr. Jon said in a faint voice. “Don’t come any closer, I don’t want you getting sick,” he cautioned.
“We have to say our goodbyes from a distance because Dr. Jon had a treatment yesterday and we don’t want him to catch anything from us and we can’t get near the radiation, that’s why we gave him big hugs on Sunday,” Mom whispered in mine and my brother’s ears.
“Yeah Jon, it’s just like when we were kids, I keep turning up like a bad penny,” my dad joked. Then he and Dr. Jon stood and looked at each other for a long moment.
That day seeing Dr. Jon, seeing him like that and seeing my dad push through it, keeping a smile on for my mom, my brother, and I. It made me realize the true meaning of love and friendship. When we were in that moment, it wasn’t really going through my mind, but now as I look back, I think why him, why someone who takes care of people now is battling with a sickness of their own, someone who has 3 kids and a loving wife why him. Why someone who spent their life helping others, why did he have to get sick, why him.
That day was a hard day for all of us, and as we parted and said our goodbyes, and drove away, it all seemed so unreal. The uncertainty we all faced we didn’t know if we would see each other again, that day is like a broken record that just keeps playing again and again, that and the picture from that Sunday of my dad and his best friend.
The door opened, and Dr. Jon and his wife, Linda, and son, Colton, came in. That afternoon as we played in the pool the laughter and happiness filled the house. That day was a good day. I can remember him in the pool laughing as Colton jumped in. The smile I had on my face as we all talked and laughed until we started crying. I remember my dad smiling as he and his best friend talked. And the most vivid memory of all to me, is the picture that was taken that day.
“Click” that one snapshot of life that one moment captured with the push of a button and a flash of a light. The picture that speaks a thousand words. My dad and Dr. Jon both so happy and lively as
they posed,arm around arm, both with huge smiles on their faces. I remember looking at how happy they both were and how that one picture makes me feel. And how even six months later, as I am writing this, that picture gives me hope.
Sometimes time goes slow, sometimes time goes fast, but time can also feel like lightyears away. Even though it was only two days later, I can’t stop thinking about how different Dr. Jon looked that day
compared to the last day we were there. I can still remember that day vividly, along with many, many, more memories of seeing Dr. Jon from the picture that is plastered in my mind to the video that
keeps replaying of us all in the pool. I just hope they aren’t the last. These are the memories and moments that I will never forget, the moments that shaped me into being who I am and how Dr. Jon
showed me to always live life to the fullest.
Writing this story is sad, but also happy in a way. In life I feel like people focus just on the bad things, but it is always important to find the light at the end of the tunnel, to find the good in things that are
tough. That is what I did with this story. Thinking about those days to come and the days that we had together are the things that keep all of us going.
I know I will never stop believing in Dr. Jon, and neither will he, he will always keep fighting until the day that there is no more cancer, until the day that my dad gets the phone call saying that his best friend is not sick anymore.
Life doesn’t come with an expiration. Life doesn’t come with a layout of how it is going to go. Life doesn’t come telling you what will happen. Seeing my dad’s best friend that day, seeing him still there fighting, that showed me the value of enjoying every moment. And most importantly, I learned to always surround yourself with ones you love, because you never know how long is left. I will always remember sunny days make those dark sky days easier.
– Mariah Acker (age 13), Daughter of Pamela & Brett Acker (Jon’s childhood, college, lifelong friend and Best Man)
Jon was a man of many accomplishments, his greatest being his family. He enjoyed the simple things. His family will miss him most while having coffee in the morning, kitchen table talks, cabin time, playing with the animals, fixing cars with the kids, telling bad dad jokes and we will always remember him taking time for outdoor adventures.
JON’S OBITUARY
Jon’s obituary can be found at: https://www.azcentral.com/obituaries/par055691
DONATIONS
Made to further research in neuroendocrine cancer: standuptocancer.org
To help those with extra costs in their treatment of cancer: fullofhopefoundation.org
TO THE BOY SCOUTS:
Click here to donate Call The Grand Canyon Council at (602) 955-7747 or visit grandcanyonbsa.org