Obituary of Jonathan E. McAllister

God has done His act of healing. Jonathan Edward McAllister, 53, has gone home to be with his Lord and his savior, Jesus. Jon is now in perfect freedom, peace, and love. Jonathan Edward McAllister, 53 of Delmar, raced into the glories of heaven on October 25, 2021 at Albany Medical Center following a massive cerebral vascular incident.

Jonathan was born April 7, 1968 and grew up in Delmar, New York. He attended Bethlehem Central Schools graduating in 1986. He attended The Kings College, in Briarcliff Manor, New York and graduated with a degree in Sociology. He was a member of the track team in high school and college as both a sprinter and triple jumper. During high school Jon became a competitive body builder.  His first taste of acting came when he enrolled in a drama class as a college freshman, thinking it would be an easy "A". He caught the acting bug, and continued classes, as well as going on auditions in NYC. His filmography includes Aftermath, Monsturd (video) and One True Thing. He worked locally at a number of fitness clubs. He was with the Capitol Region Tennis and Fitness Club in Albany for many years until its closure. Jon was an outdoorsperson and was a fanatic Northern Pike fisherman. He caught many that were over forty inches. He habitually returned most of the fish to their water habitats. He created many fishing related presentations on his YouTube fishing channel.

He is survived by his parents Dr. Edward McAllister and Shirley (Burlingame) McAllister, his sister Kathleen McAllister, and twin brothers Bruce McAllister (Deborah Zinnanti) and Brian McAllister (Lori Baldwin), nephew Jacob McAllister and nieces Kaylee McAllister, Ava McAllister and Paige McAllister. He attended Grace Fellowship Church in Latham.

Jon was one of the kindest, most caring, genuine, and sensitive people you would meet. He was witty, and you could not out-debate him. He was a deep thinker and a deep feeler. He loved his family, his friends, and his God. In recent weeks, Jon had been listening to sermons on heaven and having conversations about them. God was preparing him, we have no doubt.

Many knew Jon in his younger days for being a weightlifter, but he was also a sprinter on track teams, and he could fly like the wind. He couldn’t run in recent years due to back pain, but he always remembered the feeling. His brother Bruce, who had never written a poem in his life sat down and wrote a poem about this version of Jon in 10 minutes. Bruce believes it is inspired, and to be shared, so he gave permission to share it here. There is a back-story behind it……

When Bruce was a freshman in high school, Jon was always late to the bus stop, down at the end of the street.

Everyone would be on the bus ready to go…

The bus driver would try to wait as long as she could..

One day, Jon was so late…

So the bus began to leave…

Out of nowhere…

Jon comes running like a bolt of lightning…

Sprinting down the middle of the road…

He was a stud…so fast...

muscles pounding...V shaped body…

The whole bus stopped to look out the window as he

flew down the street…

Even the bus driver…

Sheer awe!!!

From that moment on...whenever Bruce saw a sprinter run...it reminded him of Jon….his speed...his form. It still does when he watches the Olympics.

So this poem came to him as a vision of how he saw Jon, and where he sees him now in heaven. We will always love you and miss you Jon…..

The Sprinter

By Bruce McAllister

Run let me run…

Open fields… and painted lanes…

My body was made for this…

Run let me run…

Wind at my face….

Run let me run…

Don’t hold me back or slow me down…

I need to move…I need to breathe… I need to be free…

I need to feel my muscles moving…my heart pounding…arms and legs flowing

I need to finish this race…

The crack of the gun…

Instinct and training…

Learning done before…

Off I go…muscle memory in motion

Stride after stride…

Picking up speed…

Faster I go…stronger I feel

Aerodynamics…

Grinding…

Churning…

Step after step…

Faster….Faster…..Gliding….Flowing…toes gently touching

Full Speed now….

Nothing to hold me back…..

High Octane…precision…Ability….Born to do this…

I can see the end line….harder I press….eyes on the prize…

Closer and closer….I can see the finish-line…

Crossing over….Tape at my chest….continuing onward….still full speed ahead

I am now free…..

Services for Jon McAllister will be private and there will be no visiting hours. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jon’s name to: Sacandaga Bible Conference, 191 Lakeview Road, Broadalbin, New York  12025.