THOMAS EDWARD JONES
January 26, 1929 – February 4, 2018
Thomas Edward Jones, of Silver Spring, Maryland, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, on Sunday, February 4, 2018.
Born on January 26, 1929, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was the youngest son of Thomas C. and Hattie McCann Jones. He was affectionately known to his family as Ted. The family moved to Washington D.C. in 1934 for his father to find steady work during the Depression.
He is survived by Nancy, his loving wife of almost 67 years. He was a devoted father to, Victoria and her husband James Coleman, Gregory and his wife Courtney, Michael, Sharon, Christal Messett and her husband William, Sr. and Holly Webb and her husband Steven; 10 grandchildren, Elyse Webb, Hilary Petropouleas, Evan Owens, Christina Ashby, William, Jr. and Thomas Messett, Rachel, Lauren, Kendall and Nicholas Jones; and great-grandchildren, Troy Jordan, Andre Chavis, Jr., Rosalynne and Violet Petropouleas, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his siblings, Eric Jones, Evelyn Rich, Louise Brodsky, and Edna McIntosh.
In 1945 he was working for his future father-in-law at RCA as a messenger boy, when the Japanese surrender telegram was delivered on August 14. Normally this delivery would be done by bicycle, but so as to not delay the delivery of the telegram, the teletype repairman was instructed to drive Tom instead. They left RCA and the driver headed towards the White House, when Tom advised they were going in the wrong direction as they needed to go to the Swiss Delegation. They made a U-turn on Pennsylvania Avenue, and were immediately stopped by a policeman. Despite explaining to the officer that they had the surrender telegram, he lectured them and gave them a ticket. Upon their return to the RCA office they called the local newspaper to inform them of the ticket and how the policeman delayed the delivery of the telegram. The newspaper took them to the police station to pay the ticket, but it had mysteriously disappeared. There is a paragraph in the Harry Truman biography detailing the surrender telegram story.
He graduated from McKinley Tech High School in 1948. He was a member of the Air National Guard from 1948 to 1950. He worked for C&P Telephone Company for 39 years until his retirement in 1990.
Tom was a jack of all trades, he could fix anything, electrical, plumbing, and automotive, and his neighbors in Aspen Hill often asked for his help. His passion was rebuilding cars, often in the driveway, to many neighbors’ dismay. He was a fun father and often shared with the neighborhood children. He was known for giving motorcycle rides, buying unusual items such as a tandem bike, a snow cone & cotton candy machines. In the summer he would take a car load of kids to the drive-in movies, with everyone in their pajamas, and vacationing in Ocean City, sometimes without Nancy. He spoiled his children especially when it came to food, if they didn’t like what was for dinner or someone was sick he would make us breakfast or stop at Little Tavern, Roy Rogers or McDonald’s. Over his lifetime he had many projects including building and flying model airplanes and coin collecting. He volunteered repairing recording equipment for the Library of Congress (which was used by the Lighthouse for the Blind) and was a regular Red Cross blood donor. He loved going to restaurants, especially if they had a buffet. In his later years he embellished facts he couldn’t recall when telling stories.
Tom and Nancy lived in the same home in Aspen Hill for 57 years and moved to Leisure World in December 2016.
In lieu of flowers, contributions are suggested to Montgomery Hospice, 1355 Piccard Drive, Suite #100, Rockville, MD 20850.
Relatives and friends may call at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Boulevard West, Silver Spring, MD, 20901 (Valet Parking), Thursday, February 8, from 7 to 9 pm. Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Grace Church, 15661 Norbeck Blvd, Silver Spring, MD, 20906 on Friday, February 9, at 10:30 AM. Interment Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
