Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Edwin Lee Jr. JONES
Edwin Lee Jones, Jr. Mr. Jones died Sunday, December 26, 2010 in Charlotte, NC. He will be missed tremendously by his beloved wife Lou and their five children, Edwin, Annabel, Sam, Wes and David, by his fourteen grandchildren, Kelly, April, Holly, Casey, Bryan, Jason, Ben, Laurie, Brandon, Hollis, Stephen, Marshall, Jordan and Rosanne, and by his seven great-grandchildren, Tyler, Lauren, William, Kaitlyn, Meredith, Cassidy and Ursula. He was born on May 6, 1921 in Charlotte, the only son of Edwin Lee and Annabel Lambeth Jones, with a wonderful sister, the late Louise Jones Brown. He grew up in Charlotte, spent a year and a half of his childhood in the Panama Canal Zone, and finished high school at the McCallie School in Chattanooga. His education at Duke University was interrupted by training at the Marine Corps boot camp on Parris Island where he became a drill instructor and was chosen to attend Officers School at Quantico. During his training in the D.C. area in the summer of 1943, he fell in love with Lucille Finch, and they were married on October 16 (and this year celebrated their 67th anniversary). Edwin was stationed at the ammunition storage facility at Goose Creek, SC and studied engineering and did drill and command at Camp Lejeune, NC. He was stationed on several islands in the Pacific before landing on Iwo Jima on D+2 with D Company of the 2nd Separate Engineering Battalion. He stayed on Iwo Jima until the battle ended 33 days later. Then he was stationed on Maui until Japan surrendered, and finally was on occupation duty at Sasebo, Japan. Edwin Jones arrived back in North Carolina in January 1946 and returned to Duke where he finished his Civil Engineering degree in January 1948. Immediately after graduation he began working for J.A. Jones Construction Co., founded by his grandfather, James Addison Jones. For his first assignments he was the job engineer and/or assistant superintendent for the Liggett Myers cigarette factory, Duke Physics Building, Morehead Planetarium, Liggett Myers research building, and the library addition at UNC-Chapel Hill. In 1950, Edwin Jones moved his family from Durham to Charlotte and began to supervise all J.A. Jones construction projects in NC, SC, and VA. In 1959, he followed his grandfather and father to become company president, and in 1971, he also became the chairman of the board. J.A. Jones was ranked as one of the top 10 contracting firms in the world, and together with its subsidiaries William L. Crow and Charles H. Tompkins construction companies, projects ranged from the Manhattan Project (K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Oak Ridge, TN - the largest construction project of its time), Liberty ships during WWII, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, IMF Headquarters in D.C., reconstruction projects on the White House and the Capitol, air bases and ports in Vietnam during the war, missile platforms at Cape Canaveral, power plants, dams, and scores of office buildings, factories, hotels, and university buildings including Woollen Gym at UNC-CH. Edwin travelled frequently both nationally and internationally for business, but when he was in town, he was always the loudest and most enthusiastic supporter at his children's sporting events at Charlotte Country Day School. He was very involved as a father and husband, doing the dishes, cutting his boys' hair (once he even gave them Mohawks!), reading the Upper Room daily for a family devotional, faithfully taking his family to church and Sunday School at Myers Park Methodist Church, and also planning memorable family vacations. He was a loving husband, father, father-in-law (to Donna, Babs, Lucy and Sue), grandfather and great-grandfather. Edwin was the director of the Mint Museum from 1979-1981, successfully headed the YMCA expansion fund drive, was a director and chairman of the board of the Foundation for the Carolinas, raised money for countless other organizations, and was a Trustee or on the Board of Visitors of universities including Duke, Queens, American, UNC-Charlotte and Johnson C. Smith, and was also a trustee at Brevard College and Scarritt College. Edwin passionately loved and supported Duke University, including its Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Engineering School, was named a Trustee Emeritus, and was also chosen as Duke's Distinguished Alumnus in 1987. Because of Lou, he became very involved at Queens University, funding several scholarships and serving as a trustee for many years. In 1991, Edwin Jones was the second recipient of Charlotte's Philanthropy Award, and in 1996 received UNC-Charlotte's Distinguished Service Award. Throughout his life, Edwin associated with leaders and experts in their fields of politics, business, academics, religion and medicine. However, he enjoyed people from all walks of life, treating them with kindness and dignity, regardless of race or religion. He was a dedicated and active Methodist all of his life, with an unwavering faith in the goodness of God, and as a youth had considered a call to the ministry. He truly loved God and his family, and his blessing before every meal included the prayer that his loved ones would be surrounded by the love of Christ. He always concluded phone calls to his family by saying 'I love you and I'm proud of you.' Anyone who listened to his telephone answering machine greeting has heard his recording 'Have a great life and a great afterlife.' The family and friends of Edwin Jones celebrate the 'great life' that he lived, and although they will miss him for the rest of their lives, they know that he has gone on to a 'great afterlife' as a faithful servant of Christ. A celebration of Edwin's life will be held at Myers Park Methodist Church at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 2, 2010. Memorial gifts may be made to Myers Park Methodist Church, the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Duke University, Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, Queens University, Brevard College or the YMCA of Charlotte.
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