'Larger than life': Dr. Don Jones' family members say he never stopped giving
After an enriched life devoted to helping others, Hendersonville community leader Dr. Don Jones peacefully passed away in his sleep on the morning of Aug. 24.
The 83-year-old and his wife of 60 years, Patsy Farmer Jones, had been at their granddaughter's tennis match the night before at West Henderson.
"My daughter, Catherine Jones, was playing a girl against Hendersonville and won a match she wasn't supposed to, and my dad got to see that. I'm so thankful that he did," Jones' youngest son, Bradley, said on Aug. 30.
Following the match, Bradley Jones drove his parents back to their home, and Dr. Jones and his wife ate supper. Then later that evening, Dr. Jones watched his beloved Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's a story Patsy has had to tell over and over again to all of Dr. Jones' friends and well-wishers who have called her over the past week.
"After the Braves game, he was so happy they won. He loved the Braves. We then just went to bed like we always do, and he went to sleep and didn't wake up," Patsy Jones said. "It's still so hard to believe. We spent all of our time together."
The family is grateful in the manner he passed.
"There was no pain... no suffering," Jones' oldest son, Kyle, said. "We are thankful for that."
A lifetime of achievement
A room at the Jones' home is filled with plaques and photos of accomplishments in his life.
He was a devoted member of the Hendersonville Kiwanis Club and helped start the Kiwanis All-Star Program, which honored the county's high school athletes in minor sports that didn't get the attention of the major sports like football and basketball. Since its inception, the All-Star Program has honored more than 2,000 athletes.
Longtime educator Rick Wood recalled his last time seeing Dr. Jones.
"It was our last Kiwanis meeting prior to his passing... Don sat across from me as usual. We talked about the plans to have the football coaches at the next meeting. I have served with Don 16 years in Kiwanis. He got me involved with the Sports and Recreation Committee as soon as I joined. After a few years he asked me to take over the chair of that committee, but he remained on the committee. He returned as chair a few years ago. I considered Don a close friend and I will really miss him," Wood said.
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Dr. Jones was also the former Director of the Henderson County Education Foundation and began the county's Education Hall of Fame. He served there for 10 years before retiring in 2014. During his time at the Education Foundation, he helped grow the number of scholarships to the county's students from four to 63.
"He was always wanting to give back," Patsy Jones said. "He never wanted any of the credit. He's done so much for so many... he was larger than life."
An inspiring coach's comment
Throughout his life, especially after his college years, one thing remained constant — he always wanted to help others.
"The common theme about dad or Dr. Don, as everyone called him, was that he just liked to help people. He had great parents who instilled an unbelievable work ethic. He was a good football player but an even better baseball player. Not many people know that," Kyle Jones said. "He had a scholarship to go play baseball at Georgia Tech, but he really wanted to play football. His uncle, JM Brown, was a pilot in the Naval Reserve, and dad had expressed to him that he wanted to play football.
"JM Brown went and talked to Jim Brakefield, who was the coach at Wofford from 1957-61. So dad went and tried out, and Brakefield told dad that he was good enough to play. So, dad started for three years (38 games) and played tight end."
One of Dr. Jones' teammates was Jerry Richardson, who went on to become the owner of the Carolina Panthers. The two remained friends throughout his life.
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One game always stood out for Dr. Jones. It was his final game at Wofford, and after that game, he walked up to Coach Brakefield and said, "Coach Brakefield, I want to thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to play."
Coach Brakefield replied, "Don, you've earned everything you've done. What I want you to know is we'll be even if you help a kid like I helped you."
"That comment, that one interaction, is what propelled dad throughout his life," Kyle Jones said.
A fateful decision
Following his graduation from Wofford, Dr. Jones joined the U.S. Army and was based at the Army Artillery, Field Branch in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he served as director of sports.
"It was a humongous base. This was in 1962 or '63... Vietnam was about to start," Kyle Jones said. "The Army had sports at the base, and the general and dad got real close. Dad was in charge of sports for the whole base. Dad had some great athletes, including Herb Adderley, who went on to play for the Green Bay Packers and went into the Hall of Fame and Dick Nen, who played first base for the Dodgers," Kyle Jones said. "These guys came to the Army to serve their commitment, and dad would have them play."
Dr. Jones also served his commitment to the Army, and when his time was coming to a close, he could've stayed and continued his tour as an officer in the artillery, but he didn't. Kyle Jones said his father's decision at that time saved his father's life.
"If he had continued on, he would've been like the other officers and would've went on to fight in Vietnam," Kyle Jones said. "His role as an officer would have been to go up to the frontline and call back to the artillery for the coordinates on where to shoot. It turned out that 95 percent of his fellow officers who stayed in and went to Vietnam got killed."
After the Army
Instead of going to Vietnam, Dr. Jones ended up going to Virginia to coach high school football and eventually wound up at Berry College in Rome, Ga., where he landed jobs as the assistant basketball coach and the head track and field coach. While there, he earned several coach of the year awards.
"He pushed his athletes to have success. He had tremendous success in cross country and track and field because his athletes simply outworked their competition," Kyle Jones said.
One of those athletes was Chester Forsh, and by recruiting him, Dr. Jones made Berry College history.
"It was an interesting time. It was the early '70s during integration, where they allowed black athletes to come into colleges and high schools in Georgia. Dad recruited Chester Forsh, and he was the first black athlete to ever be recruited at Berry College," Kyle Jones said.
Another athlete Dr. Jones gave a chance was a man named Steve Cage.
"He was a walk-on pole vaulter," Bradley Jones said. "I think he probably scored two or three points in the conference meet. He wasn't a big contributor to the team but he was a member of the team, and that's what counted in dad's eyes."
Although not a major contributor to the team, Cage became a monumental contributor to the college.
"This man went on to have great success in his business and ended up giving $10 million to the college," Bradley Jones said. "It's just another example of one of the people dad helped who ended up doing the same thing my dad always did, which was give back to those who helped him."
The college used the money to build the Steven J. Cage Athletic Center, which opened in 2008. It is a 131,000-square-foot facility that is home for men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball and men's and women's swimming teams.
When he became Dr. Jones
When Dr. Jones was 40 years old in 1978, he had a chance to be the athletic director at Berry but ended up being turned down.
"Dad was a college professor as well as being a coach. Back then, you had to do that," Kyle Jones said. "He wanted to become the athletic director. The former AD had died, and dad had a great relationship with him. The college wanted someone with a doctorate, so dad didn't get that job in 1978. It wasn't because he didn't work hard... it was just because he didn't have that degree."
After that rejection, Dr. Jones left Berry in 1978 and went to the University of Tennessee for three years to earn his doctorate, but he needed a way to pay for his studies. Thanks to his past coaching success at Berry, he found a way, Bradley Jones said.
"It was back in 1972, and there was a big cross country meet where my dad's team at Berry finished second to the University of Tennessee, which ended up winning the NCAA title that year. The coach of UT then was Stan Huntsman," Bradley Jones said.
Huntsman went on to be an assistant track and field coach for the USA Team at the 1976 Summer Olympics and USA's head coach for the 1988 Summer Olympics.
"So after that meet, Coach Huntsman comes up to dad and asks, 'Where the heck is Berry College?' He got a lot of respect from Huntsman after that meet, and Huntsman said, 'If you ever need a job, just give me a call, and I'll help you out,'" Bradley Jones said.
Dr. Jones took him up on the offer in 1978 and called up Huntsman, who offered him a job as a graduate assistant for both the cross country and track and field teams at UT.
"That helped dad pay to get his doctorate," Bradley Jones said.
Both Jones' sons, Kyle and Bradley, ended up going to UT and were both student managers on the track and field team.
A celebration of his life
Jackson Funeral Service is in charge of the arrangements for the family. There will be a celebration of his life at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 at First United Methodist Church in Hendersonville.
There will be a reception in the Barber Christian Life Center following the service. A private interment will be held at St. Francis Outdoor Chapel, Kanuga Conferences.
He is survived by his wife, Patsy Farmer Jones; his sons, Kyle (and his wife, Anne) of Belleair, Florida and Bradley (and his wife Ibby) of Hendersonville; his two granddaughters (Anne and Catherine Jones) and his brothers, Mark (and his wife Sheila) and Mel, who both live in the suburbs of Atlanta.
Although his life has ended, Dr. Jones still will continue to give back to the community in his passing. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Don Jones Scholarship at HCEF, P.O. Box 1267, Hendersonville, NC 28793 or the Camp Kanuga Scholarship Fund, 130 Kanuga Chapel Dr., Hendersonville, NC 28793.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: 'Larger than life': Dr. Don Jones' family members say he never stopped giving
