Joseph M. Jones

JONES, JOSEPH M. Jan. 4, 1916 to Oct. 20, 2006 Joseph M. Jones died Friday night, October 20th, at home and surrounded by his family. He was 90 years old. A resident of San Diego for more than 22 years, Joe came here after a retirement from a busy career. He was born in Stockton, Missouri in 1916, but moved to California as a child and grew up in Whittier, California. He appeared as an extra in several movies including Sunnyside Up and greatly enjoyed the theatrical experience. As a teenager, Joe attended Whittier High School as a classmate of Richard Nixon and upon graduation, saved his own money and then left for college at the University of Missouri. There he played football, was on the boxing team and studied Geology. He graduated from Missouri in 1939 and later obtained a masters degree in geology in 1940. He then worked for the Gulf Oil Company but was drafted into the Army as a Private and began his service in the Army Corps of Engineers. After three years in the South Pacific during WWII, and eventually in Japan, he was honorably discharged as a Lt. Colonel. As a civilian, Joe began work for the Bank of America and was sent to Texas to work as a geologist in the oil industry. He spent several years as a consultant until 1959 when he went to Canada with a small oil company, Southland Royalty. He managed their offices in Calgary, Alberta, where he met his future wife, Genevieve, a nurse, while running a local boxing team. After marrying, the couple moved to Sacramento with Southland Royalty, and then to Denver, Colorado where he briefly retired from the oil business and opened his own restaurant, El Cappa. The restaurant business proved unreliable, so the family moved to Louisiana and stayed for 13 years as Joe worked for the United States Department of Interior in New Orleans. The family enjoyed small town living in Mandeville, LA from 1966 - 1978 with sailing, community theatre productions and local sports. Joe was then promoted and moved to Alaska where he became manager of the United States Geological Survey offices in Anchorage. Upon retirement in 1984 the couple settled in San Diego to enjoy good weather, Padres baseball games, and sailing on San Diego Bay. Their children all lived nearby. Joe was passionate about many things: sports, sailing, traveling, swimming, gardening and spending time with his family. He also volunteered as a peer counselor form ore than three years, meeting with and counseling other seniors. Over the course of his life Joe Jones tried to always learn new things. He learned to play golf, fly his own airplane and sail his own boat. He will be remembered as a fun, adventurous spirit who followed his dreams and lived fully, and spent much of his life in service to his country. Joseph is deeply loved and survived by his wife of 47 years Genevieve, children Gary, Marcella, Janice and Gregory, and five grandchildren. No services are planned. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Sharp Hospice Care. Please sign the guest book at obituaries.uniontrib.com