This blog was prompted due to some sad news I received this weekend from my cousin Angela, who also went to
Ohio University and worked at the
Oak Room Bar & Grill with me. She was in Athens, OH visiting her boyfriend’s family and learned that one of the owner’s has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Jeanne Sparhawk is the loving wife of the late Jon Sparhawk and has been a great mother and amazing person to everyone she meets. After years and years of smoking her body has succumbed to the damage and Jeanne is now fighting for her life against a terrible disease. I ask that everyone sends their thoughts and prayers to her and her family as she battles this disease.
When I heard about Jeanne it made me think about Jon Sparhawk, who was my boss and mentor for many years while I was at college. He was the type of man that everyone knew and loved, you couldn’t walk into the bar without stopping to talk with Jon. He was there from dusk to dawn and always in a good mood. He was the kind of boss you didn’t mind hanging around all the time…sure he’d yell at you or tell you to work hard, but it was this great relationship he had with all his workers that made working there so amazing.
I never knew walking in an taking that job would change the path I took in college and in my career. After losing my father my freshman year at college, I didn’t really grasps the concept of fatherly advice and tended to sheer away from it because of the memories it would bring up. But after working at the Oak Room for awhile, I found myself coming in early, picking up shifts or staying later to just sit and talk with Jon. From school, to boys, drugs, alcohol and business – the kind of things you wouldn’t find yourself discussing with an older boss over a Ohio brewed beer on a Sunday afternoon after church. But that was the kind of guy Jon was.
He pushed ideas and wanted nothing but the best for local restaurants in Athens and for the Oak Room. He constantly picked our brains for the next best thing, how to make the Oak Room even bigger and better. How to get in the right type of crowd – not just the obnoxious drinkers but the people who would become regulars. And they came - I could name off the top of my head the regulars, what they ate, drank, tipped and if they would give me advice based on our last conversation. Those regulars gave me graduation gifts – that’s just the kind of place Jon made.
Over the years Jon became a father figure to me and he never even knew it. I would borrow his truck, pick up shifts for extra cash, do dinners at his house, rent from him and much more. He gave me real world experience building promotions, placing ads and how to utilize your own personality and network to take things even further. He made things happen – a small idea can become a movement…and he did just that. He left a legacy in Athens and across Ohio, developing Brew Week - see how he impacted Athens
here.
I would go back and visit Jon all the time, no matter how little I was in town or how out of the way it was I always made my way to the Oak Room. Jon was known for pitching in wherever he could, whether busing dishes, catering, bringing out fries, etc. he always helped his employees. Jon was doing just this when he passed away suddenly of a heart attack. He was doing what he loved best to support his family.
The picture here is how I remember Jon. In his Hawaiian shirt, laughing out loud, usually smoking a Winston, drinking iced tea and making an impression on everyone he met. He was a great man and many people miss his dearly. Please pray for his wife and family in their time of need.
