James Everett Jones

1922 - 2025

James Everett Jones

May 17, 1922 ~

October 14, 2025

James Everett Jones-a veteran of World War II, mountain rescue climber, ski patroller, fire fighter, river runner, musician, and all-around great guy-passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family in the Canyonlands Care Center in Moab at the age of 103. Jim was born on May 17, 1922, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Everett Arthur Jones and Catherine Thomas Jones. He was raised by his mother's sister Anna Elizabeth Thomas (Aunt Did) and her husband George Rambeau, an arrangement for which Jim was forever grateful.

Raised during the great depression in the industrial city of Pittsburgh, Jim knew how to use his fists when needed, but was grateful for the kind and enriching people who raised him and he exhibited great empathy for others his entire life. Badly hurt in a back-lot baseball game at age 19, Jim nearly died. A flung bat struck him in the forehead, crushing his skull. A series of near-miraculous occurrences and a skilled surgeon saved his life. He enlisted in the army less than a year later, and was given the opportunity to avoid service, which he declined.

Jim trained on several army bases across the United States, including Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, where he learned the song "Columbus Stockade Blues" (which he loved and sang for over eighty years, and passed on to his sons who continue to perform it). While in training, Jim met August (Gus) Rosenberg, and they became best friends for life. After training they served in Iceland and England, landed on Utah Beach at Normandy together, and fought across France and Germany including in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war Jim and Gus lived together while attending college via the GI Bill.

Jim never spoke about the horrors he experienced in the war but remembered good times with Gus as well as his kind interactions with French civilians. He especially treasured an encounter he had with a young French schoolgirl, Suzanne Bonneau, near the town of Rebais. In an act of gratitude for the liberating soldiers Suzanne gave Jim a small French flag that she had sewn, which he carried for the remainder of the war. Jim even returned to Rebais with his family more than seventy years later, where he was celebrated by local residents who had experienced the town's liberation by the Allied forces.

After receiving a degree in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, Jim met a beautiful girl from the same neighborhood he had grown up in, Evelyn Theresa Cain. They were married in 1950, and Jim got a job with the National Park Service at Sequoia National Park in California (Evelyn's family jokingly referred to Jim as "Nature Boy" after a popular Nat King Cole song). These two urban kids moved to a remote cabin in Sequoia where they adopted an orphaned deer and began a life together in some of the most beautiful and isolated places in the United States-the National Parks.

They soon began a family and happily welcomed four children-Kevin, Jeannine, Jamie, and Eric-as they moved about the country from Sequoia to Mount Rainier National Park, to the Blue Ridge Parkway, to Dinosaur National Monument, to Badlands National Park, and finally to Canyonlands National Park. After Jim retired from the Park Service in the early 1980s, he and Evelyn remained in Moab, where they enjoyed a rich life with many friends, activities at their church, community theatre productions, and travel. Inspired by his step-father George, Jim carried a fondness for music, often singing with Evelyn, and learning to play the mandolin-a tradition continued by his sons Kevin and Eric, and grandson Nick, with whom he once performed as the "Jones Mandolin Orchestra."

Jim was a devoted caregiver for his beloved Evelyn when she became ill, and he grieved deeply when she passed away in 2007. Jim always took care of himself and exercised daily. He did pushups and sit-ups nightly, climbed the Moab Rim three times a week well into his eighties, and rode his bike regularly until he was 99 years old. He attributed his long life to the nutritious food Evelyn prepared for him and the family, as well as his regular exercise.

Jim is survived by his children Kevin (Barbara Evert), Jeannine (Rick Willett-deceased), Jamie (Lynn), and Eric (Karen Downey); grandchildren Wesley (Lora), Kyler (Shannon), and Nick; and great grandchildren Rhys, Zephyr, Liliana, and Skye. Jim expressed many times how he appreciated his life and thought it couldn't have been better. He was a model father and neighbor, and we miss him terribly. Jim lived according to two principles-be honest and be kind-and he followed them unwaveringly. Help his family honor Jim by following his principles as best you can.

Services are pending.

Family and friends are invited to share tributes online at www.SpanishValleyMortuary.com.