Remembering Long Beach's Jon Wakiya Krug

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Editor’s note: The following is a tribute to Jon Wakiya Krug, a Long Beach resident who died in 2014.

Jon Wakiya Krug, an options trader from Long Beach, passed away on June 9, 2014 at age 36. He was laid to rest at St. James of Jerusalem Episcopal Church in Long Beach.

Krug earned a degree in economics at Columbia College of Columbia University in 2001 and joined Wolverine Trading as a clerk on the American Stock Exchange. He quickly rose to trading options on a variety of equity products.

In 2007 he moved to the COMEX exchange to trade in the silver options pit, where he soon emerged as a leader owing to his critical thinking skills, congeniality and competitiveness. Krug’s nature was to think outside the box, which served him well in his vocation.

“Jon always viewed his success as the success of everyone around him,” Wolverine Trading said in a tribute piece to Krug. “And he showed this time and again with his generous nature...and more than once was witnessed to literally give someone the shirt off his back. Never one to do anything halfway, Jon often immersed himself well beyond the level of enthusiasm of those who encouraged him in the first place! Such was Jon’s lust for life.”

Friends said he left an indelible mark on all those he met.

“In the few years that you had here, you had done and seen more things than I probably will in my entire lifetime,” his friend, Andrew Barnett, said at a past memorial. “You were a shining example to everyone on how to…just do it!”

A creative individual, Krug found success in work and personal life. Through engagement in sports, be it ping pong, basketball, surfing or snowboarding, he stretched both himself and his competitors. Krug enjoyed cars, motorcycles, nature, acting, photography, music, cooking and physics.

Friends described him as kind, loyal, creative, an innovator and a visionary. They remember his smile made them laugh, his intellect brought wonder and his charisma made those around him shine.

“In his DNA, more so than most, was encoded a curiosity and a driver to explore outside of his comfort zone to do things he hadn't done before, or anyone had done before,” said friend Andy Pastor.

“Always and forever, we will be celebrating Jon Wakiya Krug freeing our spirit, one of his favorite activities,” added friend Inaki Orozco.

Memorial contributions may be made to Columbia men’s varsity basketball by contacting Victor Spinelli at vs2557@columbia.edu or (212) 851-7979.