Donald W. Jones

Donald W. Jones, of Wayland, MA, a world reknowned educational publishing executive, died November 24th, 2014 at his home. He was 92. Don was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and raised in Greencastle, Indiana, and went on to attend DePauw University. He was a gifted scholar-athlete and became one of the premier basketball players in DePauw history. He was inducted into the DePauw Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987 as one of the great scorers of his era. His name remained in the DePauw sports record books for more than 25 years for the 43 points he scored against Earlham College during the 1942-43 basketball season. After graduating from DePauw in 1943, he served three years in the Air Force where he was a navigator. In 1946, Don started his legendary publishing career at Prentice- Hall. During ten years at Prentice Hall he rose from sales representative to editor in chief of its college textbook division. In 1958 he joined Addison Wesley Publishers as sales manager and in 1966 was elected president of the company. During his tenure at Addison Wesley he grew the company from a small Boston publisher to one of the country's largest publicly traded scientific publishing houses. Don retired from Addison Wesley in 1976 and persued various personal interests in the Boston area which has been his home since 1958. In 1977, he joined the board of directors of Wadsworth Publishing Company of Belmont, CA and later assisted in the acquisition of this company by International Thomson Corp. In 1983 he founded and helped build Jones and Bartlett Learning of Burlington, MA, which today is one of the world's leading educational publishers. Capping his career in publishing, in 1996 the Association of American Publishers, awarded Don a lifetime achievement award for his work in the higher education publishing field. Don was an avid sports enthusiast and enjoyed boating, skiing, tennis, golf and world travel. He also enjoyed attending all sporting events, from the professional arenas to the local school yards where he would watch his grandchildren. In his later years, Don became an enthusiastic birder and enjoyed observing the yearly migration of the Osprey from his beloved Amrita Island homes- Stonehenge and Sorrento. He was also a benefactor of DePauw University where he established and funded the Lester Martin Jones Professorship of Sociology in honor of his father a longtime professor at the university. Don leaves behind his three children: Donald Jones, Jr of Sudbury, MA, Nona Jones Feuer of Aspen, Co and Clayton Jones of Wayland, MA, his second wife of 32 years, Patricia Jones of Wayland, MA and five step children: Christine Lavers of Bristol, IN, Robert Jandl of Acton, MA, Beanie Marvel of Weston, MA, Susan Queen of Shorewood, MN and Ted Jandl of Sudbury, MA. He also leaves behind 28 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. A celebration of Don's life will be held at a later date at his homes on Amrita Island in Cataumet, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations should be directed in the memory of Donald W. Jones to the Harvard University Stem Cell Institute for Diabetes Research.