Jon Eidelson

Passed away suddenly on Saturday, April 2, 2016 in Santa Barbara, California. Jon was born on June 23,1958 in La Habra, California, to Daniel and Anita Eidelson as the youngest of three children. He was the precocious younger sibling to older sister Debra Stanfield and brother Bruce Eidelson. He grew-up in Orange County and attended Rose Drive Elementary School, Yorba Linda Junior High School and Troy High School. Jon is remembered for his intellectual curiosity, kindness, and moral compass. Jon's interests in science led him to University of California, Berkeley to study physics and where he met his wife Gayle in their freshman year dorm in 1976. After Berkeley they moved to Menlo Park where Jon worked at SRI International as a research physicist studying electro-optics. He then attended Anderson School of Management at UCLA and received an MBA in Finance and Management Science in 1983. After business school, Jon moved to Santa Barbara, to work for Warren and Selbert, Inc., a financial software firm of a dozen employees. Jon was instrumental in the company's tremendous growth and continued success. As senior vice-president, he participated in all aspects of the business, from programming optimization routines to researching tax issues to assembling computer systems. Jon's passion and hobby for over 25 years was genealogy and family research, especially his and his wife's extended Jewish genealogy. As his children grew, he gained extensive knowledge about college and school requirements and enjoyed helping many students in the community navigate the college admissions process. Jon's big life project was the family he built with Gayle. Together they raised six boys and one girl in Santa Barbara: Michael, Joel, Ben (Anna), Aaron, Nathan, Adam, and Leah. Jon is survived and will be truly missed by his wife and children, his mother and father, brother and sister, one grandchild, and extended family. In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Jewish Family Services (jewishsantabarbara.org/jewish-family-service) or the Santa Barbara Education Foundation (sbefoundation.org/). Arrangements entrusted McDermott-Crockett and Associates Mortuary (805) 569-2424.