Jason Cole Magnon

Jason Cole Magnon, 25, passed away gently into the arms of God on Friday, January 15, 2016 in Georgetown, TX. He was born in San Antonio, TX on July 27, 1990 to his loving parents, Robert and Karen Magnon, and his loving older brother, Grant.

The second of two sons, Jason grew up in San Antonio as a brilliant student who poured his immense creative talents outside the classroom into the performing arts—especially music and theater. A gifted actor, he took part in a number of productions throughout middle and high school, winning awards at local and state-wide competitions, including "Best Actor" and "Best One-Act Play" accolades at a state championship of private schools. His ability to immerse himself in a diverse array of characters was a natural byproduct of his instinctive empathy and abiding interest in (and love for) other people—traits evident to his myriad friends and all who knew him. That same empathy was manifest in so many of the other activities he pursued: for Jason, helping others wasn't merely a duty or obligation—it was something he truly enjoyed.

Of note was his work with intellectually disabled children, both as a camp counselor and later as a caretaker. In college he traded Friday nights out with friends to volunteer at St. David's Hospital, comforting the families of patients in the ICU—ever sensitive to human suffering, never hesitant to roll up his sleeves and help. An outward manifestation of that giving spirit could be seen in the form of a 30ft, scaled-to-size map of the U.S. that he hand-painted on the playground of a local elementary school: his final project as an Eagle Scout, he hoped it would educate and entertain schoolchildren for many years to come.

After graduating high school, Jason went on to study psychology and English literature for two years at Augsburg College before transferring to Southwestern University, where he was to graduate this spring. He loved exploring the intricacies of the human mind and came to see psychotherapy as a potential career in which he could apply that interest to improving others' lives. Remarkably, he attended national conferences as an undergraduate, read journals, and obtained certifications in Neuro-linguistic Programming and hypnotherapy.

In recent months he also began to consider graduate studies in English literature, as a longtime love of reading and writing blossomed into a passion for modernist literature and scholarship, especially the works of James Joyce (he was, and will be for some time, the only family member to read Ulysses cover-to-cover). His astute criticism was informed by his own work as a published poet and by his ear for music. As a teenager he learned to play the piano, guitar and violin.

He composed music in his spare time and DJ-ed throughout college, including hosting his own radio shows, and was elected manager of Southwestern's student station last year. Music was one of the great loves of his life: in the symmetry of its rhythms and harmonies he could feel intimations of the sublime and the Divine—hints of an underlying unity, in which his ever-searching, always-curious mind found inspiration, fulfillment, and peace.

He is survived by parents Robert and Karen, older brother Grant, extended family, and innumerable friends.

MEMORIAL SERVICE

FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016

4:00 P.M.

ST. LUKE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

11 ST. LUKE'S WAY

In lieu of flowers, a charitable contribution of one's choosing would best reflect his loving soul.