The Washington business community remains in shock today, mourning the loss late Friday of one of its most charismatic leaders, Rand Construction president Jon Couch. Along with his mom, he passed away in the tragic crash of a small plane he was piloting in Southern Virginia.

We snapped Jon at our DC Power Women celebration back in February (with Sherry Cushman, Sabret Flocos, and Janet Davis, some of the honorees he had come to salute). Jon started as a project manager at Rand in 1996 and within nine years had become president, helping grow it into one of the region's top GCs. 

On a personal note, Jon spoke at and attended many Bisnow events over the years. By coincidence, our publisher's wife, Margot Bisnow, actually lived with Jon's grandparents for several months when she was a kid in Ann Arbor. (They had been her parents' next door neighbor and volunteered to house her when her family moved to another city and she was finishing up high school.) Like everyone, we knew Jon to be incredibly smart, charming, thoughtful, and fascinating—with many side passions like boats, motorcycles, and planes. He will be deeply missed, but memories of his vivid life will live on.