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Jon Muth

January 29, 2021
Grand Rapids, MI

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Muth, Jon Jon R. Muth (1945 – 2021) Jon Muth, former president of the State Bar of Michigan and partner at Miller Johnson, PLLC, died on January 29, 2021 after his long and courageous battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. When initially diagnosed over seven years ago Muth was told to start getting his affairs in order. Over the next seven plus years his resilience and upbeat attitude baffled doctors - maintaining an incredibly full life and true to form exceeding all rational expectations. He died peacefully in his home surrounded by his family. He was 75 years old. A graduate of East Grand Rapids High school (63'), Kalamazoo College (67'), and receiving his Juris Doctorate degree from Wayne State University in 1971, Muth began practicing law with Miller Johnson and remained there his entire 43 year career. He described the practice of law as the melding of life and law into a singular purposeful destiny. And he did just that. He lived his life and practiced law with purpose, integrity, empathy, wisdom and curiosity. He was fiercely competitive but always exercised that spirit with decency and fairness - never sacrificing his strong moral ethic. He was the only State Bar of Michigan president to serve for 18 months, and managed while also performing the executive director's duties. He served for ten years on the Kalamazoo College Board of Trustees, earning the college's Distinguished Service Award. He was a committed mentor to young lawyers and was given the Grand Rapids Bar Young Lawyers Section Service and Mentoring Award in 1999. He was particularly proud of his involvement in founding the Kent County Legal Assistance Center (KLAC). A shared community legal resource which Opened in 2002, the KCLAC was the first self-help center in Michigan and among the first in the country. It was designed to address the challenges faced by those who represent themselves in the legal process. Today the KCLAC helps over 18,000 people each year with family, housing, consumer and other basic legal issues. Jon, served as organizational chair and trustee, helping found the startup in 1996 with a 23 day cross country "Leg Aid for Legal Aid," bicycle ride raising over 20,000 dollars. He averaged 125 miles per day for a total of 2881 miles, from San Diego to Charleston, South Carolina. In 2011, Muth was named by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as the lawyer of the year. The scope and breadth of Muth's professional accomplishments pale in comparison to his love and devotion to his wife Carol (54 years), sons – Jeff (Courtney) and Dan (Meredith), brothers - Andy (Patricia)and Jim (Myra), grandchildren - Danny, Miles, Madeline, Jeffrey and Hannah, and his nieces and nephews. Muth was preceded in death by his loving parents C. Robert Muth (1989) and Patricia M. Muth (2018). While Jon's life was truly purposeful and focused, there were many things that simply brought him joy. He adored being "Midot" to his five grandchildren and serving them Bisquick-based pancakes with a couple of "secret ingredients." He told them bedtime stories invented as he spoke – which may explain the lack of forethought that the main protagonist was a character named "Skeleton Wolf." He was an accidental inventor of a bird feeder to challenge any squirrel, raccoon, chipmunk or deer that would make even Rube Goldberg blush. He wouldn't hesitate to drive 75 miles round trip for Woodland Farm Market cherry pie, all while listening to strains of Eva Cassidy, Bruce Springsteen and Emmylou Harris. Upon return that special pie might be dessert for a slow-cooked corned beef dinner with family and friends. Weeks before his death, Jon provided the following in a letter to his sons: I have nothing to fear from death. If climbing a mountain is a metaphor for life, I have reached the top. In a very curious way I have been happier recently than I have been in many years. I have nothing left to prove, no challenge ahead, no drive for competition, no concern about success, no office to fill, no client to serve, no reason to be anxious for an outcome, no schedule to keep, no one else to whom I must answer, no place I must go and no task I must complete. I am free. That freedom allows me to write, tinker, converse, expand relationships and think. As my physical world becomes physically restricted to a plot within 70 feet of an oxygen concentrator, my inner world has free reign to the limits of the universe. I am enjoying the view. Looking back on Jon's life it is clear that a light has been switched off that cannot be rekindled. A friend has been lost that cannot be re-found. A model has been lost that cannot be re-made. A husband, father and grandfather has been lost that cannot be replaced. How do we move on from such loss? We know what Jon would do. Man of purpose, he would put his head down and move forward. And do what's right. For in the act of doing there is catharsis. In the act of giving there is healing. In the act of loving the is no void that can't be filled. The family anticipates holding a celebration of life later this Spring or Summer and wishes to express deep gratitude for the care and compassion provided by Faith Hospice. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorials in the form of contributions to the Kent County Legal Assistance Center https://legalassistancecenter.org/donate/