Jonathan Michael Cordes

Jonathan Michael Cordes, age 21, died on September 30, 2016, as a result of an auto accident in Dewitt, Michigan. Jon was a senior at Michigan State University studying International Relations with a minor in Spanish. His intention was to join the Marines upon graduation.

Jon was a 2013 graduate of Sycamore High School where he had been a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council, Advisory Forum, Marching Band and Pep Club. He was a Student Ambassador and a representative on the Homecoming Court.

Jon began working at Eggsclusive Café in Sycamore when he was 16. He continued to work there during college breaks and during the summer months. Recently he also was working for K & T Electric in Michigan.

Jon was an avid reader with a passion for the military and history. He enjoyed following several sports teams, especially football and baseball. He was fiercely patriotic and had a love for small town life. He was honored to play Taps on his trumpet for local Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day celebrations. He traveled extensively with his family and enjoyed two recent backpacking adventures to Wyoming with his uncles and cousins. He made yearly trips with his mother and sister to rural Nebraska where they would enjoy working on his cousin’s farm, branding cattle, attending the rodeo and spending time with family.

Jon will be remembered by his loving family, his Michigan friends, and his local friends and community members as a generous, selfless, and truly respectable young man. His name was synonymous with compassion and kindness among his friends.

He is survived by his mother, Nancy Korth and sister Mary Cordes of Sycamore, father Christopher Cordes of Chicago, several maternal aunts and uncles; Barbara (Bill) Starkweather of Naperville, Susan Metcalf of Sycamore, James (Shelley) Korth of Maple Park, Daniel (Mary Fran) Korth of Elburn; cousins, Kristen (Mark) DeBlock, Amy (Eric) Knee, Melissa Starkweather, Karyn (Jerry) Burch, Jill (Eric) Mannheim, Chad (Elizabeth) Metcalf, Jessie (Dave) Issel, Katy Korth, Sarah (Luis) Rivera, Lisa (Chris) DeSilva, Annie Korth; second cousins, Ellie and Mikey DeBlock, Austin, Nolan, and Cali Burch, Jacob, Katelyn, and Joseph Knee, Weston Issel, and Adalyn Mannheim.

While his short life will leave us heartbroken, there is comfort in knowing that Jon positively impacted so many lives and that he is now among those who have gone before. He is preceded in death by his beloved maternal grandfather, Gerald Korth and grandmother Gladys Korth.

A celebration of Jon’s life following interment at Elmwood Cemetery in Sycamore is planned for the spring of 2017. Details will be published in early May, 2017.