Jon Eddy
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Spouse: Debbie
Children: 3 kids and 4 granddaughters
Home: Kirkland, WA
Occupation: semi-retired

"I married Debbie and we have 3 grown (that is, they're not getting taller...) kids--Amy, Hart and Emily--and four granddaughters.

For the past few years, I've been semi-retired--I work part-time at my law firm, teach at Seattle University's law school, and do project work for US AID and the ABA in Ethiopia and Indonesia. I will miss this year's reunion, traveling on one of these projects.

Deb and I spend as much time as we can skiing with Hart and Emily at Stevens and Whistler in the winter, and hanging out in the Gulf Islands in the summer. Amy doesn't ski (much), and spends a lot of time with her 2-year old.

After law school (UW), I headed out to Ethiopia for three years to teach at the law school, and then continued teaching at US law schools for about ten years (mostly at Chapel Hill, N.C.). When Debbie and I got married, we relocated to Seattle, and I went into law practice.

I see Jenn intermittently, and Richard and Lar from time to time."

Jon's Profile by Charlie Burdell
It's a real chore for me to write something nice about Jon Eddy. In the third grade, I found myself hopelessly in love with Mrs. Dzurick, our third grade teacher. Jon was also in the class and he was clearly her favorite. I seethed as she continually asked him come to the front of the class, look out the window and then use crayons on a large piece of paper stuck on the wall to depict the weather. I still shudder to think of the unfairness of it all, but, I’ve risen above all that and have the following to report:

In 1962, Jon was voted, along with Mary Lou Laing, as the “best conversationalist” of our class. We met for lunch, and I can tell you, unequivocally, he remains a wonderful conversationalist for many reasons, including, that he has a lot to talk about when he is asked about his life.

Eleven of our classmates maintained the highest academic average at MIHS. Jon was the only male. He was on the honor roll and in the honor society (what were those?) every year in high school, except his junior year, when he was an exchange student in Germany.

He went to Harvard and, although he continued do well academically, he spent most of his time on the Charles River, rowing on Harvard’s varsity eight oared “light weight” crew. He is quick to point out that the only reason he didn’t row in the heavy weight crew was that he wasn’t tall enough. Apparently, unless you are six feet or taller, you can’t get sufficient leverage to row as a heavy weight. His crew was very successful, they won the Henley Regatta in his senior year. Jon loved rowing and when he graduated from Harvard, he briefly considered taking a position at a New England prep school teaching and coaching crew.

Like most males in those days, as college graduation approached, the specter of the draft approached. One way it could be avoided was to take the “war boards”. If you scored in the top 25%, you could be exempted from military service. Apparently, the military had determined that smart persons didn’t make good soldiers, or something along that vein.

Jon signed up for the test, but showed up to take it late! As a result, he was called before the draft board and grilled upon everything from his ability to set and use an alarm clock to his allegiance to his country. After an uncomfortable period of waiting, Jon received, orally, word from the board that his application for an exemption had been approved (after all, he was a “Harvard grad”). When he asked for something in writing he was told “don’t push your luck sonny!”. He didn’t and although he had received a notice to report for the military, he was never sought as “AWOL”.

He returned to Seattle to attend law school at the University of Washington. His ambition in the MIHS annual was to “retire to Pago Pago”. Consistent with his interest in travel, he pursued legal teaching posts in Africa. Nothing developed, so he planned a four month tour of Europe in a VW Bus to be picked up in Germany. Upon arrival in Germany, Jon received word he could teach law in Ethiopia. He sent the VW Bus back to the US to be sold, packed his bags and flew to Addis Ababa where he taught law for three years.

He returned to the USA to become a “Tar Heel” Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina. He taught there for seven years, but never lost the itch to return to the west coast, or the itch for foreign travel. He came back to Seattle and worked at a number of law firms until 2002, when he “retired” from the law practice to take a position teaching law in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He was hired to teach commercial law in Jakarta, but the day after he accepted the post, terrorists exploded bombs in Bali. The US Embassy was evacuated and the job was postponed. A few weeks later Jon was informed that the plan had changed. Rather than teach commercial law, because of the violence and lawlessness, he was to work with Indonesia’s financial intelligence unit which was basically a kind of center to spy on bank accounts. During his Indonesian employment he worked with Australians and New Zealanders who were having serious problems with crime in the area. Twice, only a last minute change of plans, allowed Jon to avoid being present at the exact location of a terrorist explosion.

Jon has worked in Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, Qatar and Afghanistan. Currently, he is a Professor of Law at the University of Washington working in a US State Department program to improve legal education and the administration of justice in Afghanistan. He is basically a “talent scout”, looking for Afghans who can attend law school at the UW and return to Afghanistan to work in the administration of justice. Jon fit the bill for this assignment for many reasons, including that men who are slightly heavy set, with white beards, have the “warlord” look in Afghanistan and are therefore highly respected! Jon says this was probably the only time he got a job because of his good looks. His trips to Afghanistan have decreased because it has become too dangerous to go there, however, the program continues.

Jon lives in Kirkland with his wife, Deb Eddy, the former Mayor of Kirkland. He has three kids, all married and four grandchildren, all girls.