The diving community attracts innovative, dedicated people, bound together by passion. Jon Coon was one such person who spent his career at PADI® building a strong retailer and instructor community in his 30-year career as a Regional Manager for PADI Americas.

Jon’s diving background was robust and reflective of his passion for underwater adventure and exploration. A US Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam era as a medical corpsman, Jon later became an oil field salvage diver trained in both heavy dress equipment and the use of u/w explosives. He went on to become a NASA dive safety officer and also worked on diving archeological and scientific projects, public safety and underwater criminal investigation work.

He started in recreational diving and diver training in the 1970’s. With his great love of diver training, he eventually trained instructors as a PADI Course Director. He began his career as a PADI employee in the mid-1980s as a PADI Regional Training Coordinator (RTC) and then as a Regional Manager where he had a brilliant career as a dive center management and sales consultant and individual instructor educational development within his region.

Jon, regarded by all who knew him as a true, Southern Gentleman, fit perfectly into the South Eastern US territory, to which he was assigned. He was known as “a Rock,” on the PADI Team, whose steady, calm composure was always present in his interactions with people and within the community. Jon was one of the primary originators of PADI’s program for Navy Divers at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training center, in Panama City, FL, wherein Navy diver training includes qualifications for PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water Diver. This training assists Navy divers in earning civilian credentials within their Navy training regimens for recreational diving outside their military careers.

With his life-long interest in scouting, Jon was also instrumental in the introduction of PADI dive programs into the National Boy Scout Jamboree, where thousands of Boy Scouts enjoy pool-dive experiences each year and are able to earn a diving merit badge.

In addition to his PADI work, and family life, Jon combined his diving experience with his creative writing talent. He authored and published three books. In 1994 Jon released his first book, Thief of the Deep, an underwater mystery novel. After retirement from PADI in June 2014, Jon continued to write, publishing two more books, including his last, Ghost River, which was introduced at the 2019 DEMA Show.

Jon will be dearly missed by colleagues, friends, family and community. He was a noble and rare person who enriched the lives of all those he interacted with in his life.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.robinsonsfuneralhome.com.