It is with deep sadness that we announce the sudden passing on July 3rd of Jonathan “Jon” Todd Lipton, of Victoria BC, formerly of Toronto ON. Jonathan was the son of Nancy Lipton of Atlanta, GA and the late Irving Lipton, brother of Jordan Lipton (Siu Challons-Lipton) of Charlotte, NC and Suzanne Hurwitz (Phil Hurwitz) of Atlanta, GA, and father of Melody-Blue Klassen (Mehrad Meraji) of Toronto, ON. He was also loved by his late grandparents, his aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephew and friends.
Jonathan was brilliant, caring, loyal and creative. He did not lead an easy life but brought a great deal of music and humour into this world.
A memorial service will be held in Atlanta, GA and a gathering of family and friends will be held in Toronto, ON.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Nature Conservancy or to a charity of your choice.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
This obituary is the property of the “Lipton” family and may not be reproduced, distributed, or altered in any way without prior written consent.
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paul tedeschini When is the gathering in Toronto happening ?
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Paul Tedeschini I am so, so sorry to find this news. My deepest condolences to Jon’s family. I just saw him in May when I was in Victoria for a 6 week work stint. We went out for breakfast and dinner a couple of times, once was on my birthday. Both evenings were filled with great food and a great deal of laughter. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Jon for the past month as we were in contact every couple of weeks or so since 2022. I met Jon in Toronto in 1992 and kept in touch with him until around 1999 when we lost touch. We reconnected via facebook in 2022.Total shock and sadness. If it is at all possible to speak with anyone from Jon’s family, or anyone else who was in contact with Jon, please get in touch. I would very much like to speak with you.
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Dyniss Rainer Jon and I met when I auditioned for a Toronto band he was in around 1995. He played bass; I played drums. It was a brief band partnership. We later by chance bumped into one-another on the street, and easily became friends. Jon was unusually real, relatable, and could could go deep in conversation. He tended to live by his own rules versus stereotypical rules, while showing respect for others. A link was our similar food preferences (he was vegan at the time; I was vegetarian), but our greatest link was music. We shared artists we admired, our own songs, and our subsequent music productions. Jon was also an audiophile with a quality stereo (for people with our humble means), which I eventually purchased from him when he upgraded, as he would regularly in the future. Jon left Toronto to live in Vancouver, then in Robert’s Creek, then in Victoria, all of which I visited him at. When not in person, over the years we emailed or texted or FaceTimed our songs and / or recordings (in-progress or complete) for feedback and / or collaboration. We became better music creators and listeners through those exchanges. There was mutual positive support in that realm and in the realms of our regular lives. Jon’s humour was always at hand — quick and masterfully sarcastic — easily able to one-up my comparatively feeble humour attempts. A long-term friend gone too early. We should have heard more of each-other’s songs.
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Vincent Atkins Jon was one of my dearest, oldest friends in Victoria. He was singular, no-baloney, not afraid to call it like it is, or be shunned for his honest views; & yet he was also magnanimous, ridiculously funny, super devoted & loyal friend, to many. I’ll deeply miss our talks, jokes & laughter. He turned me on to so much great music – I’ll miss his sharing, our sharing. I admire & feel moved by how Jon knew what he wanted to do, & made it happen. He lived his own way, & while I wish he could still be here to make happen all the many things he still wanted to do, it’s hard to say I wish he had lived any other way than he did. I love you Jon, thank you for being such an amazing friend, I will always be yours. Love & condolences to his family.
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David Miller I think what I appreciated about Jon the most was his ability to understand what was going on in the world and then ignore most of the games people were playing, while he simultaneously chose his own path. I saw Jon two months ago and he was in great spirits. We went for lunch and talked about the old days with great reverence.
I knew Jon for 26 years and considered him to be one of my best friends in life. My condolences go out to Nancy and the rest of his family, as well as his daughter! RIP Jon
Dear Nancy Lipton, I happened to see the obituary of Jonnathan yesterday on 2 november 2025. I want to give you my heartfelt condolences. Nancy, such a loss for you I hope you are doing well -I also saw some of your most beautiful abstract paintings! Warm thoughts.
Anne Schotman