I met Jon when I came to work with the Philip Morris industrial engineering group, first as an intern, and then, as a bay engineer after I finished school. Jon was my mentor all through that period. Sometimes officially, sometimes not, but the advice was always very, very good.

Those were the years when PCs were fast becoming indispensable tools for our engineering duties. As we all learned and gained competencies, Jon became the go-to-wizard for Lotus programming. Jon always was perfecting macros to automate countless staff engineering tasks. The man was so full of ideas, it was hard to find time to learn about them all.

It wasn’t just work ideas. I faced life challenges where Jon Halle was again my go-to wizard. The mysteries of buying a home, understanding mortgages, real estate closings, and buying points… all revealed to me in exquisite patience by Jon. When I got married, Jon led the department initiative to collect funds for our group wedding present. In so many facets of life, Jon knew how to work with people and get things done.