Jack E. Jones (89) died peacefully at his home in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, November 21st, 2019. He was born in Savannah, Georgia on September 24th 1930, where he lived until 1945 when he moved to Columbus, Georgia. There he attended Columbus High School and graduated in 1948. An athlete and an academic, he was a two-year letterman on the basketball team and president of his senior class.
After finishing high school, Jack went on to attend Emory University for two years prior to joining the U.S. Air Force in 1951. During his service he was stationed in many places across the world, such as Cheyenne, Wyoming; Denver, Colorado; and Tripoli, Libya. After his discharge from the Air Force, he attended Auburn University majoring in Building Construction.
After college, Jack launched his lifetime career in the commercial construction business. He was initially employed in 1955 by Wright Associates in Columbus, Georgia as an Estimator/Project Manager and then went on to become Vice President and Chief Estimator and a part owner of the company. He then moved to the Atlanta area in 1980 as Vice President and Chief Estimator with McMerit Construction Company. He worked in the Atlanta area at various large companies for almost 20 years and retired from Winter Construction Company in December 1999, after a forty-four year career in the commercial construction industry.
Jack was an active member of his community in the Columbus and Atlanta areas; including previous president of the Associated Builders & Contractors of Georgia, a member of the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Opera, ALTA tennis player, a member of the church choir, and the Joyful Noise Ringers.
He had a passion for travel and visited many places both here and abroad including Italy, France, Nova Scotia, New York, Alaska, Hawaii and Maine, to name a few. One of his favorite trips being Russia on a People-to-People exchange in 1989 where he immersed himself into the Russian culture and enjoyed learning about their way of life as well as their construction tactics. He kept detailed records on every single trip he took labelled by year and country. He was also an avid book reader, reading hundreds of books across many genres, although Mystery was his favorite. He frequently added more and more to his personal alphabetized library where you’ll find that Tom Clancy has the largest shelf.
Jack loved sports and despite attending Auburn University, he became an avid University of Georgia football fan during his adult life and rarely missed a Dawgs football game. He was also an avid Atlanta Braves baseball fan, and once had season tickets at the old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. After he retired, he rarely missed a Braves game on television.
Survived by his ex-wife Frances Gail Jones of Duluth, GA and their three children; daughter Valerie Jones Daniels and son-in-law Steve Daniels of Salem, AL; son Ken Jones and daughter-in-law April Jones of Jacksonville, FL; and daughter Tracy Jones Hill and son-in-law Neil Hill of Prescott, AZ; as well as eight grandchildren: Derek Smith, Holly Green, Tyler Jones, Hannah Jones, Mitchell Jones, Connor Weatherford, Ayla Weatherford, Ian Jack Hill and four great-grandchildren; Harrison Smith, Charlotte Smith, Caden Green, and Carly Green.
He was predeceased by parents R.L. and Kate Jones, brother R.L. Jones, Jr., and son Robert Alan Jones.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Embry Hills United Methodist Church or Samaritan Hands, an organization that sponsors education for children in need.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, November 26th at 10AM at Floral Hills Funeral Home with a visitation for friends and family following the service. He is dearly loved and will be missed by every fortunate person who came to know him.
