In Memoriam
JON UNDERWOOD
DEAN BRANNAGAN
Jon Underwood was featured in Volume I of Art of Dying . You can read his feature article , " Death Activism " at www . artofdying . net .
Jon Underwood , the founder of Death Cafe , died suddenly on Tuesday 27th June from undiagnosed acute promyelocytic leukaemia . He was a quietly spoken , deeply compassionate radical , who bettered the lives of millions of people all over the world through his work creating Death Cafes . He was just 44 .
Jon was always the first to point out the originator of the idea was Bernard Crettaz , a Swiss sociologist , but it was Jon ' s low key evangelism that gave the idea momentum here in the UK , and thanks to his confidence in the social benefits , and his generosity in sharing it ( he held the reins so lightly as to be almost invisible ) Death Cafes have become a global phenomenon .
Jon was married to Donna Molloy , whom he met at Corpus Christi College in Oxford , and they have two children . Jon was both intellectual and deeply spiritual - his degree was in Politics , Philosophy and Economics . Jon immersed himself in Tibetan Buddhism , giving up well-paid tech work to manage the Jamyang Centre in South London , working alongside his beloved spiritual teacher , Geshe Tashi . In 2002 he took up a role in Tower Hamlets Council leading pioneering projects to support ex offenders and tackle issues of the disadvantaged . He left Tower Hamlets in 2010 to develop his own projects around death awareness , compassionate funerals , and natural death facilities . He maintained strong links with Jamyang and always wanted the centre to hold funerals , and with irony that Jon would relish , his was first .
I have been privileged to host several Death Cafes , and while on paper the idea doesn ' t seem so groundbreaking - strangers meet , sit and drink tea , eat cake and discuss death for two hours- in reality they can become crucibles of extraordinary intimacy .
Jon understood that people have a thirst for the authentic , a longing to connect on a deeper level , and sharing our experiences of death , our fears and hopes , while enjoying one of the simplest of pleasures of our short lives , is such a way . Jon was really creating a space for moments of shared grace ; intimacy through vulnerability , tempered and softened by the breaking of bread together . Though his influence on the Natural Death movement was huge , I ' m sure he would have insisted that he was the rule , not the exception .
Working with death has taught me that the world is full of Jon Underwoods . Compassion , courage and integrity are the bedrock of most people ' s personality ; only bad luck and circumstance bend us out of shape . Jon knew this too , and embodied it in everything he did .
Jon leaves behind his wife Donna , his two children Frank ( 10 ) and Gina ( 6 ), his sister Jools , his brother Matt , his mother Sue , his stepfather Alistair and his father Mike . And millions of grateful people whom he never met . Rupert Callender , Radical Undertaker .
6 | ART OF DYING