If anything, what you need to know about Jon is that he had the biggest heart and loved his family very much.
Jonathon Joseph Bromeier, born July 5th 1994, was a phenomenal fisherman who loved nature and the outdoors. Whenever he had a free moment, he was out with a pole in his hand and a friend by his side fishing in whichever lake or pond he could find. He knew the best spots all around.
In the year 2000, at the age of six, Jon was a determined and impressive wrestler. He started with the Oakville Jr. Tigers. He wrestled his entire little league career with the mentorship and guidance of his oldest brother Kurt as his coach. While things weren’t always perfect day to day, Jon was fierce. He was dedicated and determined in anything he did.
Jon started High School in 2009, and he was a tough wrestler and great scholar through his Sophomore year, where he made the honor roll! After his Sophomore year, however, things started taking a turn. Starting with marijuana use, to prescription pills and and other well known substances you would notice a change in his attitude and demeanor. From striving to be the best he could be, to trying less and less. This is where he met his demon, Drugs. Starting with small, what some might consider, normal teenage behavior- to arrests- it took a hold of him and changed him – forever.
As it became apparent he was struggling and needed more help than any family member or friend could provide, Jon went through multiple Rehab programs local to St. Louis that helped him for a period of time. In 2012, he began his journey through Wilderness Therapy in Utah and then moved onto Transition Therapy in Gold Lake, Colorado. After several months on a mountain, cooking, working, and living off the land, Jon came home and we recognized him as the person we all remembered before the addiction got him.
When he returned home to St. Louis, he was making strides, started working and trying to do better- he did do better. He had his ups and downs, however, coming back home to the same bad influences, did not help all the progress he had made. Having a few good friends, true friends -who were there for him through it, he still knew he needed to make another change, for himself. In 2015, he moved to Colorado, where his brother Matt and girlfriend at the time, Michelle, lived. He lived with them for about 2 years. He grew a new love for the outdoors and God’s creation, even more so than what he already had. Naturally, he picked up snowboarding and as in anything he did, he did it big, his skills were implausible. You can’t say everything was always perfect there either, he had some downfalls, but he was living his best life. Leaning on the support from his family, he made another choice to better himself.
He moved back to St. Louis again in 2017 and started working in Landscape. Once again, something he was incredible at and worked tirelessly to perfect because of his dedication to be better. Working for local companies and teaming up with his great and true friend knocking out side jobs just about every weekend, it was his forte. Let’s be honest, he knew he was good at it.
From 2017 and early 2022, he met some bumps in the road still, but addiction is a battle one never stops facing. It takes strength, compassion, devotion, support and so many other unseen qualities to fight through. He was ecstatic in becoming a Godfather to his newest nephew in December 2021, and he wholeheartedly was in it. In February 2022, Jon made it to where we all knew he could be, he got his license back and rented his own apartment for the first time. He was living his best life. He moved in, living the bachelor dream and being there with his family, which is not always the case with an addict. Jon truly did love all of his family.
With addiction and drug use, it can turn ugly, fast. In just a few short months of living on his own, those bad influences, those demons, found him again. Regardless of those being there who sincerely loved and cared for him, the truth about fentanyl, drug use and addiction is that it takes just one time, which ultimately led him down the path that ended his life.
Fentanyl poisoning took him away on October 26th, 2022. Anyone who hears the word fentanyl knows the crisis we are in because of it. So many lives are being taken everyday because of this highly lethal drug.
