Brandon Durar, founder of JonRie InterTech and president of Markey Machine’s JonRie division since 2023, died June 21 at the age of 71. A resident of Manahawkin, N.J., Durar launched JonRie in early 2000 after a long career with Almon A. Johnson Inc.
A leader in the marine winch industry, JonRie InterTech designs, manufactures and supplies winches for the tugboat, dredging, and military sectors.
“Brandon’s story in the marine industry began almost by accident,” Markey Machine posted on the company’s LinkedIn page. “Born in the Bronx and raised on the Jersey Shore, he was simply a young man looking for a job when he walked into Almon A. Johnson in 1980 as a designer and draftsman.
“What followed was a 45-year career that would leave JonRie winches on tugboats in virtually every U.S. port, on U.S. Navy salvage vessels, dredges, and workboats around the world,” the company stated continued.
At Almon A. Johnson, Durar went from designer to chief engineer and, ultimately, general manager. Throughout that time, Durar always made time to step aboard vessels in New York Harbor to learn “firsthand how the equipment he built actually performed in the hands of the people who depended on it,” Markey Machine’s post continued.
When Durar launched his own company in 2000, he named it “JonRie” after his children, John and Marie. The goal was to be a one-stop resource for deck equipment, with a single company engineering, building, installing, and commissioning products and offering training for crews. Twenty-three years later, Durar and JonRie became part of the Markey Machine family.
“Rest easy, Brandon,” the company’s post concluded. “You built something that will outlast all of us. Our deepest condolences to his family and to everyone who had the privilege of working alongside him.”
