James Lee Jones

James Lee Jones was born on August 23, 1918 in Dallas, Texas to the late Russell Jones and Mary(nee Jenkins) Phillips. He was the oldest of three children and was preceded in death by his stepfather Albert Phillips, a sister Sallie (nee Jones) VanLue and a brother Luke Jones, his first wife Nannette (nee Morgan) Jones of which six children were born, two children Nannette Jones and Jayana (nee Jones) Morgan, second wife Emily (nee Mack) Jones and stepdaughter Frances (nee Smith) Russell. Jimmy, as he was affectionately known by many, was educated in the public schools of Texas, Oklahoma and graduated with honors from the historical Kelly Miller High School in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Jimmy accepted Jesus as his Savior at an early age. In Clarksburg, he served as the sexton for the First United Presbyterian Church and worked as an electrician. After the death of his first wife, Nannie, Jimmy married the late Emily Smith and moved his young family to Baltimore in 1953. He joined Trinity Baptist Church and served as Scout Master for their Boy Scout Troop. Jimmy later joined Union Baptist Church with the rest of his family and was a faithful member for over forty years. As a Deacon, he was faithful in preparing and delivering Christmas baskets, conducting the new member’s classes, visiting the sick, greeting parishioners on Sunday morning and with many other acts of service. He was honored as Deacon of the Year in 1996. Deacon Jones was a member of the Finance Committee and Sunshine Circle. He retired from the Rixon Electronics Company of Silver Springs, MD in the early 1980’s with over twenty-five years of tenure. At Rixon, Jimmy began as an electronics technician and advanced through the ranks as an engineering technician, project manager and at the time of his retirement he was and assistant engineer. Jimmy was an avid fisherman and crossword puzzle worker, played the tenor saxophone and tapped-danced, loved listening to Jazz, built his own television set, enjoyed putting puzzles together and there wasn’t anything that he could not fix or try to fix. He also became and expert at collecting, preparing, shelling and storing black walnuts religiously every year.James leaves to mourn: his children Sandra Young, Edgar (Marge) Jones, Augusta Jones-Stokes and Jennifer (Roddy) Gaither; fifteen grandchildren, Keith (Gloria) Smith of Richmond, VA, Yvette Braxton of Sneillville, GA, Carla Smith of Florence, SC, Bernard Young Jr. of Bronx, NY, Cynthia Nicholson, Deborah (Veikko) Lambert, Eunice (George) Johnson and Aniel Young of Baltimore, Vincent Jones of Harrison, NY, Virrinnia (Tony) Slaughter of Rome NY, Tekoa (Angelo) Gamble, Aaron and Babatunde Stokes of Baltimore, Rhoshn Westbrook of Columbia, SC and Larry (Kimberly) Roberts Jr. of Durham, NC; nineteen great grandchildren, four great great grandchildren, two nieces, three nephews, nine great nieces, three great nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.

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James Lee Jones

August 23, 1918 - September 20, 2002