Jonathan Tavares was born in Athens, Ohio on August 27th, 1985. In 1987, he moved to New York City. As a child he was very curious and loved to read and play video games with his brothers. At the age of 6 years, he moved to Brazil where his family was from. He attended school until the 8th grade, also playing soccer at the Palmeiras Club, becoming quite accomplished in the sport. He then came back to New York City in 2000 and attended junior high school, before moving to Athens, Ohio again to attend high school. While in school, Jonathan didn’t know what he wanted to do in life, but he admired his brother, Gustavo’s passion for medicine and decided to go in that direction, even though he could have excelled at anything. After high school, he returned to New York and entered the State University of New York at Stony Brook, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. degree in Psychology. He was elected to the Golden Key International Honor Society, the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and the Sigma Beta Honor Society. He then was accepted at Thomas Jefferson Medical College (now Sidney Kimmel School of Medicine), earning his MD in 2013. While there, he also served on the Student Council Executive Board.
He then went to Brazil and passed rigid examinations in order to practice medicine in Belo Horizonte. He remained there for three years and had a large following of patients. He was very well-liked there, but he decided to return to the United States to practice family medicine. Most recently, he was working on his residency at Inspira Health Network in New Jersey.
He is survived by his father, Moises Tavares; his mother, Sonia Aquino; his step-father, Anthony J. Zongaro; his brothers: Sandro Tavares and Dr. Gustavo Aquino and his wife, Melissa Reed. Johnnie also had many friends who loved him, and he will be sorely missed by all.
Services to pay tribute to Jonathan’s life will be held at the Delaware Valley Cremation Center at 7350 State Road in Philadelphia. Friends and family will gather at a memorial service beginning at 6 pm on Monday, August 6th. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.