Thomas Arthur JONES

04/14/1943 - 02/04/2014

JONES, Thomas Arthur Thomas Arthur Jones of Spokane was born on April 14, 1943, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Tom passed at the age of 70, on February 4, 2014. Tom was preceded in death by his wife, Vicki Kaye Jones and his sister, Ruth. Tom is survived by his son, Greg and wife Michele; and his three grandchildren: Jennifer, and twins Justin and Tyler; daughter, SeDonni; son, Thomas, and son Casey; cat Qweeter; sister, Tana; sister, Laurel; brother, Kirby; brother, Gib; aunt, Cleo; and numerous nieces and nephews. Tom lived many places when he was growing up but mostly associated his youth to his high school years spent in Ritzville. Tom was a great swimmer on the Ritzville swim team. A move resulted in him spending his senior year at Lewis and Clark high school, but always reflected and joined his Ritzville class for his reunions. After graduation he was invited to go to the U.S. Nationals in Los Angeles. Due to all his hard work and his many achievements in swimming, which included holding many records with his specialty in the mile, Tom was awarded a scholarship to attend WSU, where he went briefly in 1962. In October of 1963, He decided to join the Navy. Tom went into the fleet as an Interior Communication Electrician. He spent most his time on the Ammo ship USS Vesuvius in support of the Viet Nam War. He was honorably discharged in July of 1967 as a disabled veteran. Upon his return to Spokane Tom reconnected and married his beautiful wife, Vicki who happened to be his next door neighbor. Vicki had two children, Greg and SeDonni, prior to Tom and Vicki's marriage in October of 1968. Tom and Vicki had two children together, Thomas and Casey. Thomas was born in May of 1969 and Casey arrived in August of 1970. Tom got a temporary job in the gas department at Washington Water Power in August of 1967 and then became a permanent employee in September. Tom worked for 14 years in the water department until the company sold to a utility from Pennsylvania. Fortunately, the company built a power plant in Kettle Falls. Tom interviewed for a job as an auxiliary operator and started training for the position in July of 1982. Tom moved his family to the area shortly after that. The plant went commercial in October of 1983 and in 1987 Tom became a control operator. Tom worked at the Kettle Falls Generating Station of 21 years until retirement on January 1, 2003. In September of 2003, Tom and his wife moved back to Spokane to be closer to his children and relatives. Tom took up golf at the age of 55 and really loved the game and the time he spent with his golfing buddies. Tom is loved by many family members and friends and will be greatly missed. Donations can be made honoring Tom to the charity of your choice. He gave to charities for many years and helped many people throughout his life and had no distinguished favorite. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2014 at 1:00PM at Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way, Spokane, WA 99224. To view the online guestbook please visit www.heritagefunerals.com