The first thing to know about Jono Miklos is that he loved soccer.
Growing up in Virginia Beach, Va., he played on a neighborhood rec team. In elementary school, he wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper advocating for the beach town to build an arena to attract an MLS team. He discovered Manchester United in high school and fell in love all over again.
So when Lori Miklos thinks about her 39-year-old son — who died April 22 from complications during surgery to repair a torn aorta — she says soccer is always a constant.
“He was a good man that loved soccer,” Lori said. “That’s the first thing I tell people.”
After moving to Orlando for a new job, Jono connected to his new community through soccer. He quickly became a leader of the Orlando Red Army, a supporters group for Manchester United.
Jono also became an Orlando City supporter, joining the Iron Lion Firm in 2012. Although he’d always supported teams from afar, this marked the first time Jono got the chance to cheer on a team in his own city. Lori said he took to it immediately.
“He just loved the camaraderie of it,” Lori said. “He loved to be able to go hang out with people who were as excited and passionate about the game as he was. He practically lived and breathed Orlando City.”
Jono was known for showing up for tailgates at what was then called the Citrus Bowl six or seven hours before kickoff, talking soccer and kicking around a ball with his friends.
A longtime friend and fellow Iron Lion Firm member, Carlos Alvarado says Jono was typically the first person to welcome a new face at a tailgate.
“It was just the little things,” Alvarado said. “He was always present. Whether we were creating a tifo, whether we had a chant practice, whether we had a volunteer project, he was always present and a really over the top nice guy.”
With no warning and no concern in mind you made your trip to the great beyond. Another brother gone too soon…
I hope you find Miguel and the two of you raise some hell up there!! You will be missed!!
Rest In Paradise, brother Jono 🙌🏼🙏🏼💜 pic.twitter.com/5zDsKIz9di
— Iron Lion Firm (@IronLionFirm) April 23, 2020
For Jono, supporting Orlando City was a way of life.
He often sent Lori videos of the supporters groups’ antics each game — new tifos and two-poles, smoke-filled celebrations and marches to the stadium. He brought his daughter McKenna — who is now nine years old — to tailgates and matches when she was still a baby, raising her to support the Lions.
“He’s one of the original guys who was around in the early days of Orlando City that was a pillar of making us grow,” Alvarado said. “A lot of the members that we have today, they’re a direct result of Jono and just how kind and friendly of a spirit he had.”
The Iron Lion Firm became a second family for Jono. When he suffered a brain aneurysm in the middle of the 2015 season, that family quickly rallied behind him.
The Iron Lion Firm created a GoFundMe page to support Jono and his family. Within five hours, the campaign had raised more than $5,000; after a week, a total of 199 donations had surpassed the initial goal of $10,000.
The reaction went beyond just financial support. The Iron Lion Firm displayed a banner that read “For Jono” at the front of The Wall during matches. Supporters collected player autographs on a jersey to give to Jono, reaching out to Lori and the rest of the family to offer encouragement.
“It was amazing to me that so many people reached out,” Lori said. “It made us feel how much he was loved. It was such a comfort.”
After the aneurysm, Jono lost some of his motor functions, including sight in one of his eyes. That didn’t keep him from making it out to the stadium to watch Orlando City matches.
“His love for the sport never died,” Alvarado said.
Even after he moved back to Virginia Beach in 2017, Lori says Jono’s passion for Orlando City remained the same.
At his funeral this week, Jono will be buried in his Iron Lion Firm T-shirt and Orlando City hat.