Charles Donald Jones

I first want to thank yall for being here today to show your respect for my dad. I know he is here right now in spirit watching us from a place we all long to know. He is happy, full of joy, pure love & feeling so appreciated by your presence. What makes Me feel so peaceful and warm inside is that I realize that He spent his Christmas with Jesus , his mom, Dad, sisters, relatives, friends, his war buddies and all of his pets. He's free from his battle with his earthly failing body. He had made it to his 93 birthday here on this Earth and has finally begun his real life... meeting face to face with God and his eternal life. The program you all have... is respectively made up of all the songs and passages he wanted for his memorial. Also in leui of flowers, etc. Dad would want yall to send a gift for any charity of your choice. Knowing him, he would've probably picked an animal charity!

For those of you that don't know me, I'm Linda Gay Jones and God blessed me to have Charles Donald Jones as my dear dad. And yes, I was a daddy's girl and adopted as a mere baby by my 2 favorite people in the whole world... my dad and my lovely mom, JO,.. in September of 1957 A lot of y'all probably know my dad as Buck... nicknamed from the cowboy Buck Jones...

My dad was born in Bessemer, Alabama. His dad who worked for the railroad in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, passed away when he was around 3 yrs old.... His dad is captured in an old photo you'll see with a train. It will take no time to pick out his dad even though the pic is very small. Dad was raised by his mom, and 3 fabulous older sisters.

As a young teen right after pearl harbor, Dad & his buddies tried to join the air force, but Dad was too tall being 6ft and 4 inches. He also was very lean , so he tried out for the Marines! They told him to go home... eat a banana and come back the next day, as if that would make him weigh enough! He loved to tell that story. His mom also had to write him a permission letter because he was a tad too young. Well off he went to fight in the South Pacific in WW2 for almost 4 years until the war ended. Once a marine, always a marine and he was a proud marine too.... (Except for teaching me Marine songs as a kid) He never talked about it much... until the last few years of his life. He talked about missing his war buddies as well... He carried around a shrapnel in his body from the war his whole life and also suffered from malaria when he was there and was sent home in the end to heal. While waiting to go back to Japan as he was still serving, the war ended, This man was strong and he never gave up... ever. He was a hero, but to me he was a hero anyway, ww2 or not.

Another story he loved to tell was that he couldn't believe that when he had gotten home.. all his friends were married. He wasn't about to settle down yet!!! He wanted to have some fun!!! He went to the University of Alabama where he was a true football fan..even before college....Crimson Tide and Roll tide his whole entire life... and then shortly after he began college he met my mom from Booneville, Mississippi and was married in 1946 in less than a year later. Go figure! He fell in love with the most beautiful woman he'd ever layed eyes on and to his very last day in this life... he thought she was the most lovely woman in the world. He'd say all the guys were after her, but he won her love.They were married 69 years! And the romance never ended.

One of his main jobs, was he owned a succesful exterminating company called Triple A exterminating , His slogan was "Your bugs are our Business" and along with his logo was his nickname Buck/ with a cowboy hat resting on the capital B.

He adored music so much, especially Big Band, Ray Price, Ray Charles & Anne Murray to name only a very few. He took me to see Ray Charles in the 70's. I had the coolest dad. He liked sad songs the most. He would always say, oh I love this song, it's so sad. He was very romantic. He reminisced about how he and Mom would dance and said she was the best dancer and mom said she thought he was the best dancer. We always had the most magical Christmas's. Dad would go all out decorating the house. Christmas morning I'd come down the stairs with a camera spotlight on me...you know..those kind of movie cameras that you watch with a film reel on a screen? Well that bright light on me would fill my heart with magic and I would feel like a princess with all the presents under the tree and a stocking always filled those delicious tangerines!... Little did I know he made many of my toys, mom would make me all my doll clothes and my darling wardrobe for me to wear when I was just a tot!, I was the richest girl in the world! We weren't rich at all, but it surely seemed so!.

For Halloween once, I remember he had put a ladder up by the outside door speaker on our front porch with a sheet over it, and it was topped with a jackolantern. The kids would knock on the door and it was as if the pumpkin ghost came to life with a spooky voice giving all the kids the shudders. Mind you I was just a kid too! Then my dad, dressed up as Frankenstien would open the door scaring everybody. Not only did we have the best Halloween house, at least, I thought! thanks to my dad and Mom...all our holidays and celebrations were Awesome! For a Halloween party Dad even dressed in drag and my mom went as a man. There should be a pic on the slide DVD for y'all to look forward too!

He adored this church, our paster, and his friends here so much. Mom and Dad also volunteered at the SW Memorial Hospital for about 13 yrs His favorite was driving the golf cart and picking up people. He and Mom loved to travel all over the world, and if I were to name all the places they went to, it would take me several days!!! His favorite place was England. He also enjoyed the theater. He loved animals! He was so thoughtful, so loving, so funny, yet firm when he needed to be. Oh there is so much that I could talk to y'all about my dad, the list is endless! I am so honored that he was my dad. I love you daddy so very much....always will to infinity and beyond ....

And... As of now... I know that you are just a whisper away...