Running Englund Marine Group, from left, are President Kurt Englund, Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Davis and CEO Jon Englund, right, son of Englund Marine's founder Axel Englund.

 Jon Englund, community leader and CEO of Englund Marine, leaves behind a huge legacy

Jon Englund passed away on Saturday, June 28. According to friends, family and community members, Englund was a bigger-than-life presence with a booming voice — “generous, happy and fun to be around.”

Englund was born in Astoria at St. Mary’s hospital on April 25, 1937, to Freda and Axel Englund. He was one of two children; his sister, Suzanne “Suzie” Englund Fleck, died in 2021 at the age of 81. 

The early years

According to the company’s website, Englund was just 7 years old when his parents launched Englund Marine, a family-run retail and wholesale store that has become a powerhouse in the community — with Englund at the helm.

Growing up on the coast, he went to school, played sports and also enjoyed commercial fishing and boating. Englund excelled in sports: he played basketball and baseball and also wrestled in high school. Later, he became adept at team roping, a passion he latched onto for more than 50 years. He was 82 when he hung up his last rope.

Playing sports to win came naturally — and ran in the family. In 1929, Englund’s father, Axel Englund, was the first person to navigate from Portland to Astoria in a speed boat. That feat made headlines and spurred a competitive streak in the younger Englund, who is listed in the Astoria High School Hall of Fame. 

Surprisingly, it was commercial fishing that helped Englund “get in shape” for high school sports, according to long-time friend and former Mayor of Astoria Willis Van Dusen. Englund’s crowning high school achievements came in 1955, his senior year, when he was named the Astoria High School Fishermen’s team captain and a first team All-Valley Coast League pick.

A winning attitude

Van Dusen recalls one memorable baseball game at Tapiola Fields when Englund hit “a historic” home run into Youngs Bay, which was nearly two miles away, Van Dusen said.

Englund went on to the University of Oregon on a baseball scholarship. He also played on the Ducks’ basketball team.

He was “a legend,” Van Dusen said.

It all may have come from a positive attitude, which, according to Englund’s obituary notice published in The Astorian on July 5, was exemplified in the mantra: “Somebody’s gotta win, why not me?”

Getting down to business

After he received a bachelor’s degree in business, Englund went to work at the family business. And after his father Axel passed away in 1980, Englund took his place at the head of the company as CEO. A few years later, he brought on his two sons, Kurt and Jay Englund, to help run the business. 

Under Englund’s leadership, and following decades of expansion, Englund Marine Group now includes 11 locations throughout the country. 

Steve Fick, a close friend and business associate, said Englund was a special kind of businessman, because he touched so many lives. Fick’s last memory of his friend is of Englund working behind the cash register and helping customers, something he enjoyed doing every Saturday — he was in “the people business.”

Community work

Englund contributed to the community he loved in many ways, as a member of clubs and lodges, participating on committees and nonprofits and serving on numerous boards and commissions, including the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and the Columbia Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees. 

On the wildlife commission, Englund faced some challenges, but never backed down from what he believed in, Fick said. For instance, when some people called for eliminating fisheries in the community, Englund held his ground. He “(did) not fold under pressure,” Fick said. 

Englund also led the efforts to conjoin St. Mary’s Hospital with CMH, contributed to the creation of the MH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative — and recently donated $100,000 towards the BuildCMH Expansion Project.

In fact, according to Erik Thorsen, chief executive officer of CMH, the Englund family has donated nearly $200,000 to the hospital. Thorsen said Englund was a giving person and a “gentle soul. 

“He’s one of those that you could have any sort of conversation with,” Thorsen said, “and really take his advice to heart.” 

Other community contributions include paying for a mural in the Astoria Aquatic Center, paying for the freight to haul the Garden of Surging Waves artwork and donating a portion of the Englund Marine property to create the Astoria Nordic Heritage Park. 

Englund also helped restore the Liberty Theatre and Astoria Column — and so much more.

“Everything that is important in Astoria, Jon was an important contributor,” Van Dusen said.

Englund was known as a man of many talents — at 66, he won the national championship in team roping. And some of his talents may have been lesser known: He spent several years as an Astoria Clown, a sideline that taught him not only how to dress in costume — but also to “misbehave.”

In the end, Englund, who is survived by his two sons, Kurt and Jay Englund, and his wife, Mary-Jean Englund, was most passionate about his family — and the place in which he lived.

“He was an outstanding leader to the community,” Thorsen said. “He will be sorely missed.”

— Jeanne Huff contributed to this article.