06/28/07 - NNHS Newsletter - Ralph Jones

Ralph Raymond Jones, Jr.,
(25 Mar 1929 - 26 June 2007)

Fork Union Military Academy Class of 194_

MANCHESTER, TENN. - Ralph Raymond Jones Jr., of Manchester, formerly of Newport News, Va., died Tuesday, June 26, 2007, after a brief illness. The son of Ralph Raymond Jones Sr. and Emma Hicks Patrick of Battery Park, Va., Mr. Jones was born in Newport News on March 25, 1929, and was a long-time member and deacon of the Orcutt Baptist Church in Newport News. After graduation from the Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Va., Mr. Jones enlisted in the Army and served one tour of duty during the occupation of Japan at the close of World War II. After his honorable discharge from the Army in 1947, he returned to Newport News and attended the Apprentice School of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. In 1950, he married the former Nancy Virginia Reese of Petersburg, Va. After having been called from the reserves for a second tour of duty in support of the Korean War, Mr. Jones returned to Newport News and joined his father to work in the family furniture business, R. R. Jones Furniture, Inc. From humble beginnings as a used furniture business, Mr. Jones and his family grew the business to one of fine home furnishings in the Colonial Williamsburg tradition. In his spare time, Mr. Jones was an avid woodworker and provided his family, friends and church with many lasting tributes to his skill. Mr. Jones retired from the furniture business in 1991 and, after a fulfilling retirement in Newport News pursuing travel and his passion for woodworking, Raymond and Nancy moved to Manchester to be closer to family where he became a member of the First Presbyterian Church. He was a member of the Korean War Veterans Association. Mr. Jones is preceded in death by his parents, infant twin sisters, a brother, Billy Patrick Jones, and a sister, Elizabeth Ann Lang. He is survived by his wife, a son, Ralph Raymond Jones III and his wife, Fay, of Manchester; and two grandsons, Thomas Chappel Jones of Nashville, Tenn., and his wife, Tiffany, and Benjamin Trevor Jones of Madison, Wis., and his wife Maggie. A private graveside service will be held on Friday in Peninsula Memorial Park. A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday at Orcutt Baptist Church, Newport News, with Dr. M. Reginald Warren officiating. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, remembrances would be appreciated in the form of memorial donations to Hospice of the Highland Rim Foundation, 110 E. Lauderdale St., Tullahoma, TN 37388. As a loving husband, father, and grandfather, Mr. Jones will be deeply missed.

Published in the Daily Press on 6/29/2007.
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