The Foreign Service Journal, April 2005

Harold M. Jones , 86, a retired FSO, died Dec. 29 at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. as the result of a burst aortic aneurysm. Mr. Jones had suffered a stroke in 1999. Born in Charles City, Va., Mr. Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Virginia State University, and a master’s degree in agricultural engineering from Cornell University on the GI Bill. While teaching in Manassas, Va., he met and married Loretta Williams, a teacher of mathematics. Mr. Jones served with the U.S. Army in the Pacific in World War II and in occupied Germany during the Korean War, attaining the rank of cap- tain. He earned a reputation for defending the troops under his com- mand against injustices. Following military service, he began his career teaching agricultural engineering at Manassas Teachers’ College, then moving to Tennessee State University, while his wife taught mathematics at Fisk University. From there Mr. Jones embarked on a 25-year career with the U.S. Agency for Internation- al Development. Mr. Jones’ first and longest posting was in central India, where he helped establish the Central Farm Machin- ery Training and Testing Institute at Budni. He took a lively interest in Hindu and Muslim philosophy and religion, inviting colleagues to evening debates and encouraging his daughters to take advantage of a unique learning experience. He appeared in 1960, while in India, on the front cover of SIGN magazine, which carried an article by Marilyn Silverstone on his work and his fami- ly’s experience abroad. Over 30 years later he revisited India. The Institute, now the largest of its kind in Asia, honored him for his great contribu- tion. Among the highlights of the trip were meeting the Nawab of Pataudi and Bhopal, the hereditary ruler of Bhopal who is a famous crick- et player, and staying with his former driver, who had pulled him through many a wet, muddy monsoon and who educated his own three children because of the example set by the Joneses. Mr. Jones was then assigned to northern Nigeria, where he stayed on during the Biafran Civil War while his family was sent to Spain for safety. His next post was Kenya, as agricul- tural officer. There he designed a water pump and special plow for small poor farmers, and donated the prototypes to a museum of technolo- gy. In November 1979, he received a Superior Honor Award for his service in rural sector development in East and Southern Africa. In all his post- ings, Mr. and Mrs. Jones were renowned for their warm hospitality and barbecues. Mr. Jones retired in 1980, but returned to development work with the Rockefeller Foundation in Swaziland, and the Pan American Development Foundation in the West Indies. Upon return to Washington, D.C., he became known in his neigh- borhood for his flourishing vegetable roof garden. Never one to settle into routine, Mr. Jones taught himself how to use a computer and turned to writing. He wrote, illustrated and self-published Dogs Help People’s World Turn (Dorrance Publishing Company, 1997), depicting dogs as meaningful reminders of the human condition. He also completed his autobiography, now in the U.S. State Department Oral History Archives. He actively supported the St. John Baptist Church of Charles City, which his grandfather, Sitting Bull John Jones, had founded. He was also an avid sponsor of Africare activities. Mr. Jones is remembered for his great sense of humor, and his love of people of all cultures. He enjoyed telling anecdotes, puns and jokes that endeared him to everyone, and he used this gift to defuse many a tense moment. His favorite pastimes were hunting and golf. He started hunting as a boy in the woods of Charles City, and returned every year with friends to Virginia for the deer season. Abroad, Indian villagers sought him out to stalk down cattle- and man-eat- ing tigers, which at the time roamed freely in many areas of India. He was a competitive amateur golfer and won several trophies. Mr. Jones shared his hobbies as well as his love for books with his daughters. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Loretta Jones; his sister Vera Allen of Farmville, Va.; seven daugh- ters: Burnetta of Cleveland, Ohio, Christina of Bonn, Germany, and Cambridge, Mass., Carol of Boulder, Colo., Anita, Estrellita and Carlotta of Washington, D.C., and Loretta of San Francisco, Calif.; four granddaugh- ters: Bianca, Monica, and Ariana of Cleveland, Ohio, Hildegaard of Goettingen and Hameln, Germany; and four great-grandchildren: Jerel, Danielle, Wesley, and Trevor, all of Cleveland, Ohio. J. Jefferson Jones III , 89, a retired FSO, died Jan. 6. Born in 1916, the son of J. Jefferson Jones Jr. and Tommie Cole Jones, Mr. Jones grew up in Newbern, Tenn. Following graduation from Georgetown University in 1939, Mr. Jones joined the Foreign Service. Mr. Jones’ first posting, in 1941, was to Mexico City. During World War II, he served in Venezuela and New Zealand. His major field of interest was India, where he served as A P R I L 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 57 I N M E M O R Y