Dallas Levy Jones III

Dallas was born in 1942 in Shreveport, Louisiana, on the banks of the Red River; he was living on the banks of a smaller Red River in South Chatham when he passed away from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on March 10th, 2026.

His father was a US diplomat, and Dallas grew up a “Foreign Service brat” in Norway and France, returning “Stateside” in the mid-1950s. He graduated in 1960 from BCC High School in Bethesda, Maryland, where he had begun his faith journey at Bethesda Presbyterian Church. After picking up a BA in history at the small Presbyterian College of Wooster in Ohio, he spent a summer mowing hay and stringing “bobwire” fences on a cattle ranch in the foothills of the Grand Tetons some 50 miles outside of Cody, Wyoming. That summer was a life-altering experience that taught him the value (and pain) of hard, seven-days-a-week physical work. He also joked that it drove home how much better suited he was to an academic life. He returned to Norway and spent a year studying at Oslo University before heading back to Edinburgh University in Scotland, where he had spent his Junior Year, to complete a PhD in history in 1970. While there, he courted and married the love of his life, Liz, and watched in amazement the birth of their first daughter, Kirstin; he also played the bagpipes in the university pipe band and developed a love of haggis; for four years he played on the university’s volleyball team and was honored to be President of the Athletic Club, the organization that oversaw all of the university’s competitive sport, as well as co-captaining the Scottish National Volleyball Team. He always looked back on these years as one of the happiest times of his life.

While working in a post-doctoral fellowship at Keele University in the English Midlands, Dallas applied successfully to the Central Intelligence Agency and returned to the States with Liz and Kirstin in 1973. Catriona was born shortly after they settled in Bethesda, and Jennifer followed in due course. He often said Liz and the girls were the light of his life, and this shone through every day. Even in the midst of a busy career, he was a wonderful, loving, and present husband and father.

For the next 30 years he worked as an analyst and manager of analysis, mainly on Western Europe, since he had lived much of life there and spoke four of the languages. He joined the “Canoe Pool,” crossing the Potomac River in all seasons with a hearty group of coworkers to commute to work. During his time at the Agency, he served several years in multiple assignments in Europe. After these assignments, he spent two years briefing top US policymakers in Washington. For his final assignment, he became a highly respected professor of US Intelligence and National Security at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service as officerin-residence. During his career he received a number of awards, including the Career Intelligence Medal for Exceptional Achievement, the Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and several CIA Meritorious Achievement Awards. In his first years of retirement, he taught part-time at the CIA’s Sherman Kent School of Analysis and the FBI Academy.

In 2008, he and Liz moved permanently to South Chatham on Cape Cod, where Dallas had inherited a house from his parents. Here they found a spiritual home at The Federated Church of Orleans. Dallas was a Deacon and Moderator of the church’s governing body, the Cabinet. For 13 years, he led the church’s Local Mission Committee, which donated $100,000 a year to local charities. His work with the Local Mission Committee was an extension of his personal generosity, supporting many charities through time and financial contributions. He took particular pride in participating, alongside Liz, in the Jimmy Fund Walk into his late 70s.

For a while, he and Liz took extended trips once or twice a year to favorite haunts in Europe. They also continued to spend time in New Mexico and the Four Corners region, which they had fallen in love with after reading the Tony Hillerman books. They were entranced by the beauty of the High Desert country and the mystery of Anasazi ruins. They spent months in Taos, Las Cruces, and in the Gila Mountains. Closer to home, they discovered the pleasures offered by Quebec Province’s Eastern Townships, where they could practice their French and eat wonderful meals. They also enjoyed the more rugged beauty of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Dallas loved living by the seaside; he and Liz took many long beach walks in all weathers, especially on their beloved local Forest Beach. The peacefulness of the Cape was a balm to his soul, and he believed Massachusetts was culturally and politically the most civilized state in the Union. He felt he had come home.

Dallas’s kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity touched every single person he met. He will be remembered for his fondness for chocolate, pickles, Dad jokes, books, bluegrass, comic books, and Emack and Bolio’s ice cream with hot fudge sauce. Above all else he will be remembered for his love of his family, and the joy he took in sharing all of these little pleasures with them.

He is survived by his wife, Liz; his daughters, Kirstin (m. Keegan), Catriona (m. David), and Jennifer; his sister, Alice; and his grandchildren, Melody (m. Gage), Gordon, Riley, Nora, and Nina; and his niece, Christy.

The family invites you to join them for a Celebration of Life at Federated Church of Orleans on Saturday, May 9th at 10am.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one of the many causes he supported. Federated Church of Orleans, World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders, Sharing Kindness, Housing Assistance Corporation, and Family Pantry of Cape Cod were among those closest to his heart.