With profound sorrow and broken hearts, we share the unspeakable news of the loss of our amazing, youngest son Jonathan Ryan Boughton. Jonathan was given to us Nov. 18, 2002, and lived his happy and full life in North Branford surrounded and utterly loved and adored by his family. He was taken from us Monday, March 22, 2021. It was a beautiful spring day and he decided to drive his moped to work. On his way home, the unspeakable, unimaginable, most horrible thing happened to him and he was gone.
Blessed with an unquenchable curiosity and full of life, Jonny quickly became known as Tornado Baby. With boundless energy and an unstoppable drive, even as a toddler he would achieve any goal he set his mind to. A happy, playful boy, he made friends easily and had a smile that never ever faded. He spent three wonderful years at the Nursery on Notch Hill with teachers he loved. Jonny’s bursting spirit was a pleasant challenge for his Kindergarten teachers at Jerome Harrison who learned on the first day of school that he was the kind of kid who had to be kept busy. Jonathan would happily accomplish any task they put him to. He was a great teachers’ helper. Jonathan’s elementary years were spent at Mauro-Sheridan Inter-district Magnet School in New Haven where he shined. He loved acting and had roles in two Shakespearean plays, Macbeth and The Tempest. Like his brothers before him, he took up the trumpet and was in the school band for four years. Too young to join the Robotics Club with his brothers, Jonny sat in the back and listened and found himself an extra kit and made his own functioning robot. Amazed by his abilities, the teacher allowed him to join the club early. He spent four years competing for MA-SH in the FIRST LEGO League all over the state. Jonathan made two lifelong best friends in that class, Christian and JoAn. He graduated with high honors and was a proud member of the National Junior Honor Society. Jonathan joined Cub Scout Pack 455 as a tiger and crossed over into Boy Scout Troop 453. He was a life scout and absolutely loved summer camp at BSA Camp Sequassen. Slushies and small boat sailing were his gig. He missed going last year because of the COVID shutdown.
Jonathan enjoyed traveling with his family to Niagara Falls and riding the speed boats, to Folly Beach, South Carolina and learning how to surf, to Chicago to see the Bean and have deep dish pizza, Disney World with MA-SH for 8th grade graduation, skiing at Killington, Vermont, trips to New York and Boston with the Boy Scouts, Battleship Cove sleepovers with the Cub Scouts, and snowmobiling with his beloved Padre and brothers in New Hampshire. Jonathan’s true passion and love was for technology of all kinds. Anything that moved and had a motor or made noise entranced him. He mowed the lawn just so he could drive the tractor. Jonny spent the summers and vacations working with his father and brothers at the family fire truck repair business. He quickly became a talented mechanic with the ability to diagnose problems at a much higher level than expected for his young age. Jonathan decided he wanted to attend Eli Whitney Technical High School in Hamden and LOVED it. He decided on the automotive career path, following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps. At Eli Whitney, he excelled both in shop and in academics. While there he made a few more life friends: Gurbeer, Adam, Walter, and Zoilo. Many nights Jonny stayed up way too late talking, planning, and laughing with them. They rebuilt mopeds together that they proudly pulled out of Dumpsters. Christian joined them and with the rebuilds successful, they would drive around Hamden together as a pack. When they got their drivers licenses, their fun switched to the rebuilding of “cool” junkers. They loved life and they were a close bunch of amazing young men. Jonny’s friends plan to finish the work he started on his Prelude exactly the way he himself dreamed of doing. Jonny achieved high honors almost every marking period, up until COVID hit. Virtual schooling was not for him; he needed his hands on. While in shop at Eli, he mastered his skills and received numerous trade certifications from the ASE Board (Automotive Society of Engineers). As an employee at the E.J. Boughton Co. Jonathan developed his skills to the point that most customers who had known that the 18-year-old had worked on their equipment would ask for him by name. He was truly one of the most gifted technicians anyone could have known. Jonathan’s potential was unlimited. He was poised to become our lead technician, and then eventually, take over the company. Jonathan applied to and was accepted into Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, from which he received an amazing scholarship. His plan was to learn everything he could about how to run and expand a successful business. Jonny’s passions were both broad and simple: Vroom, tech, and boom. If it had anything to do with a motor, a computer, or great sound, he was in…all the way! Jonny was incapable of doing anything at 99 percent, it was 100 percent, all the time, every time. If a hurdle got in his way, the best you could do was to stay out of the way. He was simply the most determined person anyone could know and believed in the individual, that no one was going to hand you what you wanted, he believed hard work paid off and free things did not taste as good as earned things. He was wise beyond his years.
We were blessed to have him for the short time we did.
LIFE DIDN’T HAPPEN TO JONNY, JONNY HAPPENED TO LIFE. Now we know with certainty, that everything in Heaven is running just a bit better.
Left to miss him forever are his friends mentioned above; his first best friends and eternal brothers, Petty Officer Third Class Edward J. Boughton III and Connor Stanley Boughton; and his precious and crazy kitty Leo. He is also survived by his grandparents Frank Lowell and Linda Majchrzak, his Mimi Beverly Boughton, and cousin J. Michael McDermott. Jonathan loved his aunties who absolutely adored him: Amy Adams, Colette Bergeron, Kirsten Gunter, Susan Sibby-Forbes, Tasha Carrano, and Susan Carbone. His lifelong adopted cousins are ReAnna Jean, Austin, Helen and Ethan Adams; Griffin and Lexi Gunther; Jason and Cali Maggy; and Luke and Eli Forbes—our perfect bakers’ dozen. They were his family, his confidants, and his partners in crime and he will always be with them.
He goes to join his Poppy in Heaven, Edward J. Boughton, Sr., and his Nana and Jaju, Stephanie and Stanley Majchrzak, whom he loved and was absolutely cherished by.
Lastly, left forever in sorrow and pain, he leaves his loving parents, Edward J. Boughton, Jr., and Stephanie Lowell Boughton to carry on his name and his spirit and to make sure he is never, ever forgotten. Jonny gave the best hugs and we will miss them.
A memorial scholarship has been established in Jonathan’s honor. Flowers are happy in gardens and gear heads are happy in garages. All donations will be given to students who have the same spirit, drive, and confidence in themselves that Jonny had. He would love knowing that he will help hundreds of kindred spirits achieve their goals and make their dreams reality. Jonathan’s light shined so brightly it can be seen from Heaven, it was not meant to shine forever on its own. By helping gifted, talented kids achieve their goals in his name we can all help keep his light burning bright for all to see.
https://gf.me/u/znpmwc
Jonathan R. Boughton Memorial Scholarship Fund
A celebration of Jonathan’s life will be held during the summer at the North Branford Congregational Church. Details will follow on Facebook.
Funeral services were private in care of Lupinski Funeral Home, Inc. 821 State Street, New Haven. Sign the guestbook online for Jonathan at www.lupinskifuneralhome.com.
WATCH OUT FOR MOTORCYCLES JRB.
