Anton "Tony" Raphael Kuendig Jr.

We mourn the loss of our beloved Tony. Anton Raphael Kuendig, Jr. peacefully passed away at his home in San Diego on January 30, 2025. A friend to those who knew him, Tony was the eldest son of Anton and Aida Kuendig. Tony’s father, a trained pastry chef from Lucerne, Switzerland, and mother, former director of the Family Crisis Center in Pleasanton, CA, first met in San Francisco. Tony and his brother Hans are first generation Americans in the Kuendig family, a family name dating back to the 1400s in Switzerland.

Born under the Golden Gate Bridge at the former Presidio Army Base on March 16, 1953, Tony lived most of his life in California. He also lived in Germany, Alaska, and Spokane, Washington. A renaissance style man with many interests, Tony’s first love was music. He played guitar and even made a few of his own guitars. He built a successful towing business (Two Bit Tow), rescuing stranded people in the greater San Diego area for over 20 years. Tony was a master mechanic, repaired classic tube amplifiers, and enjoyed fishing and the outdoors. He practiced transcendental meditation since the early 1970s and played music in bands from Fairbanks, Alaska to San Diego, CA.

Tony attended grade school and high school in Atwater, California, before graduating in 1971 from Ben Eielson High School in Alaska. He also attended the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. As a teenager, Tony would sometimes practice playing his guitar until his fingers bled. He was a consumate guitarist, adept at playing most any guitar lead, from Ten Years After and Eric Clapton, to Cream, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and many other rock guitarists.

Tony touched the lives of many. Mourning Tony are his brother and wife Hans and Jill, his nephew Jonathan and niece Hannah, cousins Patricia, Aida, and Lily in the U.S., and many more in Switzerland and Europe, and many friends. Tony’s long time companion, Jody Thacker, passed away shortly after him on February 18th, 2025. Tony is loved and missed, now and forever.