Obituary of Robert Jones

Robert Jones was born on May 13, 1923 in Natalie, Pennsylvania to Martha and George Jones. He was the fourth of four boys in a family that grew up in the coal country of Pennsylvania. He ran cross country and track at Mount Carmel High School and held the record for the 440 yards until the 1970s. Bob was in the Naval Reserves during World War II until they discovered he had a childhood disease that disqualified him. In the meantime, he attended Penn State for two years and transferred to Iowa State, graduating in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture. He continued to excel in track, was the captain of the track and field teams at both Penn State and Iowa State, and finished third in the 880 yards at the NCAA National Meet in 1946. At Iowa State he met and married his lifelong partner Doris. He worked in city planning, landscape architecture, and land use and zoning in Memphis, Birmingham, and St. Louis before moving to Hawaii in 1967. Bob was regularly assigned to the more difficult public hearings on land use and zoning because he understood the issues, was calm, friendly, well spoken, and could communicate with all audiences. He was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on all the Hawaiian Islands, in the South Pacific, and in Australia. Bob swam, snorkeled, bodysurfed, hiked and backpacked with his family in the Islands. He and Doris retired in 1988 and moved to Eugene Oregon in the summer of 1988. Bob and Doris joined Central Lutheran Church shortly after moving to Eugene. Local activities such as attending the Bach Festival, hiking with the Obsidians and Lane Community College programs, golfing, hunting pheasants and fishing were favorites. Bob never missed sitting close to the finish line for Prefontaine and NCAA meets at Hayward Field in Eugene. He was an enthusiastic patron of the Shakespeare Festival, and an avid and expert birder. He traveled extensively to Arizona and California for bird watching, to Iowa and Pennsylvania to visit family and friends, and went on 101 Road Scholar/Elderhostel trips. Close friends remember that “Bob was flying toast, fluffy waffles, boats, rockets, beach fires and meals, tidepools, a full patrol box, and boundless energy when we were youngsters in Hawaii” and that he has continued to be “our invincible star, a light to navigate our days, now and into the future”. Bob was preceded in death by his wife Doris and is survived by his three boys, Craig, Kim, and Claude, five grandchildren, and one great grandchild. Bob will be laid to rest beside Doris in a cemetery on a beautiful hill in the farm country of Iowa. Please donate to a charity of your choice in Bob’s honor. Arrangements entrusted to Musgrove Family Mortuary. Please access the obituary and you are invited to sign the guestbook at musgroves.com