Bill Jones, 89, passed away on Sunday, October 25th 2020 of Pulmonary Fibrosis at his Lake Seminole Square residence in Pinellas County, Florida. Bill graduated from Yale University in the School of Engineering, Class of 1953. A member Tau Beta Pi, he rowed competitively on the 150-pound crew. Bill was a distinguished Air Force ROTC military student who graduated at First Lieutenant and later became involved in testing missiles at Cape Canaveral. After graduation from college, he worked for General Electrics and tested Atlas Booster Rocket, the rockets used for the first manned space missions. Later, as a Senior Staff Engineer at Honeywell, he specialized in inertial guidance systems and was responsible for the on-orbit analysis of the Space shuttle as well as the early development of the Space Station.
He married Dorothy Hall in 1953 and had two children, Stephen and Patricia. He married again in 1986 to Joan Chiarelli and was blessed with a second family. Upon his retirement in 1992, Bill and Joan traveled the world, visiting over 100 countries. They were avid sailors and sailed extensively in the United States, Bahamans, Windward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Greece, the South Pacific, Australia and Cuba. In 2015, they sold their home in Harbor Bluffs and moved to Lake Seminole Square.
Bill is survived by his wife of 36 years, Joan, his son Stephen Jones (Dodie), his daughter Dr. Patricia Jones (Paul Bowmar), three grandchildren Derrick Jones, Morgan Jones and Jack Bowmar, and two great granddaughters Ayda and Amelia Jones. In addition, he leaves behind five stepchildren, Vicki Glover, Valerie Chiarelli, Cherie Mossing, Tony Chiarelli, Corey Chiarelli and their families.
There are no services planned at this time.
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