Eugene "Gene" Jones

Eugene "Gene" Jones, 82, of Hardinville, IL, passed away on November 14, 2025, at the Gibson Family Hospice Center in Terre Haute, IN. If you knew Gene, you knew a man who never saw himself as remarkable, though his life told a different story. He was born on March 31, 1943, in Hardinville, and grew up watching his dad work the ground and tend the land. Those early years shaped him. His dad wanted to be sure he did something meaningful with his life, and Gene took that to heart. Work was not something he learned. It was something he absorbed. It lived in his bones from the beginning.

He graduated from Oblong High School and subsequently tried three times to enter the service. His heart was willing, but his body had endured rheumatic fever, and the military would not take him. So he simply got to work. He started at Mahuska Oil Company and eventually became an electrician. For a period of time, he was employed at Dozer Electric in Gary, IN, where he worked on electric motors while earning a reputation as someone who could fix anything he touched. And it was in Indiana where everything changed. One day at a car hop in Hammond, a young woman named Peggy Walters stopped after work. Gene pulled in beside her, noticed the pinstripes on her car, paid her a compliment, and that was that. Six months later, on March 30, 1968, they were married.

The early years of marriage took them to Florida in the 1970s, but Gene never loved it. He did not want his girls to grow up there, so in 1978, he brought his family back home to Hardinville, the place where his life had begun and where it would flourish. He went to work in the power plants in Newton and Merom before settling in at CIPS in Hutsonville as a boiler operator until retirement. Retirement, of course, never meant slowing down for Gene. He helped local farmers with their fields and later drove for Effingham Equity, hauling anhydrous for farmers who needed him. And when the work was done and he finally allowed himself to rest, he and Peggy enjoyed the kind of retirement they had earned. They visited Colorado and walked the grounds of Pennsylvania battlefields. They spent long stretches at home with family. Simple, steady days that made Gene happiest.

Because, in truth, what Gene valued most was not travel or adventure. It was people. He never missed Tuesday morning coffee at the Hardinville Community Center with his friends; after all, that was where he learned everything that was happening around town. He loved his Hebron Road Church of Christ family, where he and Peggy worshipped alongside his brothers and sisters in Christ. He loved his girls deeply. He loved being present. Birthdays, ballgames, big moments. He showed up. He listened. He helped. He gave the kind of Godly advice that comes not from talking much but from living well. He was humble and kind. Honest and sincere. Loyal, dependable, and genuine. He never met a stranger and made it his mission to help others. His family heard him say the same five words hundreds of times. "I will be right there." And he meant it.

Everything that Gene enjoyed in life came from the same place in his heart. He cared about where people came from, which is why he loved history so much. He knew our stories mattered. He knew they shaped us. He knew that remembering them helped you choose wisely in the present. That is why he soaked up family history and rarely missed a reunion. That same attentiveness showed up in the things he did every day. He loved working the land and helping others work theirs. He spent countless hours mowing with Peggy, taking care of the place they called home. He loved the simple joy of fishing at the pond, climbing into the UTV with the grandkids, and making a lap to count frogs like it was the most important job in the world. He hunted when the seasons turned and tinkered in the garage year-round.

And when it came to serving, he gave himself fully there too. Gene spent nearly sixty years as a proud and active Mason through the Oblong City Masonic Lodge No. 644. He was involved with the Ainad Shrine, helped on the barbecue bean crew every August, and loved delivering toys to kids in Oblong every Christmas. He also cared for the Hardinville Cemetery for many years, tending it with the same devotion he gave to everything else that mattered.

But nothing mattered to Gene more than the Lord he served. His faith was not showy. It was steady. It was lived. It was real. It shaped how he worked, how he treated people, how he showed up, and how he loved. His son-in-law, Dale, said it best while thinking about Gene’s life and where it leads. "Life is a precious gift, but heaven is a glorious victory." Gene spent eighty-two years living the gift. Today, he rests in the victory.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Peggy Jones; by his daughters & sons-in-law, Valerie & Dale Beck and Janet & Jerry Ramsey; by his grandchildren, Alayna, Buck, and Parker; by his brother & sister-in-law, Carl & Sue Jones; by his sister-in-law, Marcia Jones; as well as several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Denzil & Pauline (Richart) Jones, and by his brothers, Jesse Jones, Larry Jones and Steve Jones.

A time of visitation will be held from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19th at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson. A Masonic service will follow at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. A funeral service, officiated by Pastor Bill Greenwood, will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 20th at the funeral home. For those unable to attend, a live stream of the service will be available at https://www.goodwinefuneralhomes.com/live-stream/live-stream. Burial will be in the Hardinville Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to either the Hebron Road Church of Christ or to the Oblong Fire Department’s Toys for Kids program, with envelopes available at the funeral home.