† Theunis de Jong (1966–2020)

[Marc Autret]

Better known under his nickname “Jongware”, our brilliant and famous colleague Theunis de Jong died on November 28 at the age of 54.

Everyone in this forum—and especially the older generation I belong to—will surely understand what this death means to the InDesign community. I invite the Adobe team, moderators, persons in charge… to create a dedicated tribute page. As Theunis had many many friends here (Peter, Uwe, Gregor… well! I won't mention you all, buddies!), it would be really attentive to give them a space of collective memory.

I have posted a more personal—and written—tribute on my website (I would be very touched if you read it, of course). It contains a quote that I think justified to share here with you anyway. A month ago, as he knew his days were numbered, Theunis wrote to me:

“I am really happy to have been a member of that community for so many, many years, and having been able to teach people the occasional tidbits about design, layout, and typography, InDesign in general and scripting specifically.” —Theunis de Jong, Oct. 7, 2020.

Take care,

Marc Autret

https://www.indiscripts.com/pages/theunis

[Barb Binder]

Me too. It's another wonderful way to rememeber him, Michel.

~Barb 

[Uniqued]

We remember with respect, thank you Michel!

[jane-e]

A beautiful tribute!

Merci, Michel

[Dan Rodney]

Such sad news 😢 He will be missed.

[Sam A.]

This is so sad to hear. R.I.P.

[Gusgsm]

I am sorry to know about this. My condolences to his family and friends.

Gustavo (from Madrid)

[Colin Flashman]

Such sad news.

Personally, Theunis was a regular help to me in my earlier days of using the forums, and gave me the push to learn to write my own scripts.

From a forum standpoint, he was one of the greatest contributors to this forum. Not just for the volume of posts that he would contribute to, but also for the quality of his answers; his wit and humor within those answers; the lengths he would go to in order to provide the answers; and his solutions that would not only solve an issue for one poster, but quite often the entire community. One item that comes to mind was an article contributed to InDesignSecrets – tackling tables through scripting – an issue that is often a pain-point for InDesign users who have to deal with tables en masse: https://creativepro.com/tackling-tables-through-scripting/

We will miss you greatly Theunis. Rest in peace.

[mharmonv2x0]

What a loss. And not just for his age, and the years that he may have otherwise had to enrich us further with his knowlege and perspective. But especially now, when information exchange online is so often embroiled in tribalism and negativity. May his contributions and example both live on, and may we each do our best to honor them.

[DaveJCummings]

He will be missed.  A sad loss for everyone

[Joel Cherney]

Totally gutted to learn of his passing. He was,  I think, my all-time favorite person I've met on the Internet, ever.

I wonder if it's out of place to ask Those Who Maintain These Forums to give him a posthumous "LEGEND" tag? 

[Peter Spier]

Just discovered this thread after a long absence from the forums and it saddens me to find that Jongware has been taken from us. He was a generous and thoughtful friend to everyone and as everyone else has said will be greatly missed.

[MadMac55]

Theunis is a great example of having discovered his gift early and then giving it to others.  In fact, there are many like him on this very post.  I don't know if it's possible to fully express the meaning of that quality a person.

Thank you so much, Marc.

Chuck

[Marc Autret]

Thank you, Chuck.

[JonBe]

Thanks Marc for the thoughtful and moving words on the passing of Theunis as well as the tribute site.

Jon

[Scott.Olling]

I just worked this out and I'm shocked and saddened. We all know how meaningful any help can be - and then there's Theunis de Jong with his ^.+?: - changing my world for the better. This is a loss. His simple comments, kind regard for people on forums was always direct and refreshing.

Best wishes to his family and friends, and to all his students especially - let's carry on in his style.

[alfredo jr.b33287706]

Oh my i am shocked Jongware's scripts helps me a lot. He teaches us and solve some sophisticated code

[Dan Rodney]

I'm saddened to hear this news. The InDesign scripting community is made up of a small select group, of which he was an amazing contributor. He will be missed. Condolenses to his family and friends.

[schroef]

That's so sad, have been ready Ng lots his posts and tips