Thomas W. Jones
U.S. Army veteran was farmer, driver
Thomas W. Jones, 89, of Waynesburg, formerly of Spraggs, died at 11:50 a.m. Thursday, October 24, 2013, in Evergreen Personal Care Home, Waynesburg.
He was born Friday, August 29, 1924, in Terra Alta, W.Va., a son of the late Guy Millard Jones and Elizabeth Hughes Jones. Until he moved to Waynesburg in May 2013, he lived on the farm on which he was raised in Spraggs.
Mr. Jones was a member of Spraggs United Methodist Church.
He attended Zimmerman School in Spraggs until eighth grade. At that time, he decided to work on the family farm instead of going to high school. When he was 16 years old, he would plow fields all day with his horse-drawn plow, quit about 5 p.m. and go with Woodrow Rohanna to Mannington, W.Va., haul mine posts back to Spraggs and return home about 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Jones met his future wife, Irene Strawn, on Main Street in Waynesburg on Halloween night. This later led to steady dating until he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. There were 45 men from this area that left on the same day and were together until being discharged. He spent the whole two years in Saipan. He almost went to Japan but, oddly enough, son Tommy was in Okinawa 21 years later and grandson Randy 45 years later.
Mr. Jones worked many jobs. He was a school bus driver for 13 years, worked for Kikta’s Furniture Store in Waynesburg for seven years and was a dairyman for 25 years. He then switched to beef cattle and retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation after 28 years as a truck driver. He often said the worst part about his last job was being called out in the middle of a snowy night and people expecting their roads to be plowed by daylight. He was responsible for 76 miles of road.
He had several hobbies, including watching “General Hospital” if Mrs. Jones would remember to tape it and building beautiful pieces of furniture. He enjoyed playing dartball with the church and loved to go square dancing with his wife. Mr. Jones often would say that he would rather have six good friends than a million dollars.
While in the service, he asked his stepmother to take his future wife to get her engagement ring and, on June 7, 1945, they got married.
In addition to his wife, surviving are two sons and their wives, Thomas W.(Renee) Jones of Spraggs and Guy R. (Reta) Jones of Waynesburg; five grandchildren, Randy Jones, Candy Reiner, Nicole Shriver, Chris Jones, who is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force, and Amanda Jones; and four great-grandchildren, T.J. Jones, Rylee Jones, Bryan Shriver and Kylia Shriver.
Deceased are two brothers, Guy M. Jones, who died in infancy, and William Franklin Jones.
Friends will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday in Milliken and Throckmorton Funeral Home Inc., Daryl L. Throckmorton, owner/director, 197 North Maiden Street, Waynesburg, where services will be conducted at 11 a.m. Monday, October 28, with the Rev. Kathy Higgins officiating. Burial will be in Greene County Memorial Park, Morgan Township. Graveside military honors will be accorded by James Farrell American Legion Post 330 of Waynesburg and representatives of the U.S. Army. Information is available at www.milliken-throckmortonfh.com.