Willie H Jones
(May 19, 1922 – March 30, 2012)
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, April 7, 2012 in Howe and Yockey Funeral Home, Shelbyville, with Rev. Kevin Ray officiating. Visitation from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Friday. Burial will be in Mound Cemetery, Cowden, IL with military rites by the Shelby County Honor Guard. Memorials may be given to the Shelby County Honor Guard or Herrick First Responders.
Willie was born on May 19, 1922 in Cowden, IL, the son of James Fritz and Etta Maud Wakefield Jones. He graduated from Cowden High School in the Class of 1940. At the age of twenty, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on the USS Hopewell (DD-681) in the Pacific combat zone during WW II. He graduated from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO in 1953. Willie was a high school business teacher in Herrick, IL before moving to Denver, CO to continue his education. While in Denver, he taught elementary school and later became a District Sales Manager for the Continental Baking Company. Following his retirement, he owned and operated a trailer park and several rental apartments in the Denver area. In 1993, he moved back to Illinois and made his home in rural Herrick. He attended the Herrick Church of Christ and was a member of Herrick Lions Club and VFW Post #4829 of Shelbyville.
He is survived by his brothers, Leslie “Bunk” Jones of Sparta, IL and Tom Jones and wife Lorraine of Pana, IL; sisters, Betty Newton of Champaign, IL and Verla Tomlinson of Shelbyville, IL; and several nieces and nephews.
Willie was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Roy “Deadeye” Jones, Jack Jones, and Cecil “Ed” Jones; and sister, Velma Kerr.
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