Dennis Conwell Jones, Sr.

Dennis Conwell Jones, Sr., 98, passed away March 23, 2023, in Baton Rouge, LA, where he lived independently near family since 2018. He enjoyed ballroom dancing for over 40 years, most of that in Memphis and Collierville, TN, with his bride of 58 years, Muriel Kathleen McBride Jones (1923-2004).

Dennis was born Nov. 9, 1924, in Caldwell, St. Francis Co., Arkansas, to James Ernest Jones and Lillie Lee Clark Jones. He graduated from Forrest City High School in 1942 and entered radio school in Little Rock. He joined the U.S. Navy as a radioman transcribing Morse Code aboard the U.S.S. Sangamon, receiving a Purple Heart for severe wounds suffered in a kamikaze attack on May 4, 1945. He married Muriel Kathleen McBride on Aug. 18, 1945 and worked for KXLR radio in Little Rock and at the VA hospital. In 1952, he moved his family to Memphis, TN, where he worked at WMC/WMCT as a broadcast engineer for 15 years. He became a successful ESSO/EXXON dealer in 1962 eventually operating two stations in West Memphis and a third in Forrest City for 30 years.

Dennis and Kathleen toured Europe, the Holy Land, and Egypt, and enjoyed dancing aboard cruise ships in the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Alaska.

Dennis was predeceased by his parents, wife, and only sibling, Charles Paul Jones (1927-1972). He is survived by two sons, Dennis C. Jones, Jr. (Jan Shoemaker) of Baton Rouge and K. Randell Jones (Mary) of Winston-Salem, NC; grandchildren Rebecca Mae Wishon Quigley (Isaac) of Greensboro, NC, Owen McBride Jones of Baton Rouge, Caitlin Denise Jones (Doug Challener) of Rochester, MN, Genevieve Elizabeth Jones (James Howard) of New Orleans, Jason Horne of Jackson, MS, Haley Blakeman (Shannon) of Baton Rouge, two nieces, five great-grandchildren, and numerous friends and dance partners.

Arrangements by Memorial Park Funeral Home & Cemetery, Memphis, TN. A private family service is planned.

The family thanks Hospice of Baton Rouge and the staff of Southside Gardens Assisted Living for their excellent care and kindness toward Mr. Jones. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Baton Rouge or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.