Dr. Frank E. Jones III

Dr. Frank E. Jones, III

Nashville - Jones, Frank E. III

Died peacefully in his sleep on August 24, 2020; age 86. Son of the late Dr. Frank Emerson Jones, Jr., of Merigold, MS and Madeline Victoria Jackson of White House, TN. Survived by his beloved wife of 59 years, the former Audrey Wojcik, by his children, of whom he was so very proud, Catherine Ann (Hurt), Ann Elizabeth (Marshall), Daniel Fuller Jones, and Patricia Barry Jones, and by his grandsons, Daniel Lucien Jones and Alexander Frank Jones. He is also survived by his brother, Dr. David Scott Jones, with whom he practiced for many years.

Dr. Jones received the M.D degree from the University of Tennessee in 1958. He was always grateful to the taxpayers of Tennessee for making it possible for him to go to college and medical school when tuition was almost nothing. He interned at D. C. General Hospital and took his general surgery training at the University of Vermont. He served in the U.S. army at the 34th General Hospital in Orleans, France. He received a Master of Science degree in orthopedic surgery from the Mayo Graduate School of the University of Minnesota in 1967, and took his hand surgery training with Dr. Joseph Boyes in Los Angeles. He practiced orthopedic surgery with Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance and its parent organizations from 1967 until his retirement in 1998.

Dr. Jones was president of the Nashville Orthopedic Society, the Tennessee Orthopedic Society, the Tennessee Hand Surgery Society, and the medical staff of Baptist Hospital. He was a member of the Board of Councilors of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and was Clinical Assistant Professor of orthopedics at Vanderbilt and Clinical Associate Professor of surgery at the University of Tennessee and Meharry Medical College.

During the period of integration of Nashville public schools, he represented the Social Action Committee of Christians and Jews, testifying in Washington before a House committee.

Dr. Jones loved language, having been profoundly influenced by his German professor and mentor at the University of Tennessee, Dr. H. Woodrow Fuller. He obtained the M.A. degree in French from Vanderbilt in 1995, and was an active member of the French Society for Surgery of the Hand (GEM) and the International Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (SICOT).

He received the M.Ed degree from TSU following retirement from medical practice, and taught English as a second language to adult immigrants for 22 years, a second career that he loved. Dr. Jones enjoyed the outdoors, especially cycling, camping, and whitewater canoeing. He was certified by the ACA as a whitewater canoeing instructor and as a trainer of whitewater canoeing instructors.

His roots in middle Tennessee go back to before Tennessee statehood. His family came from North Carolina and settled on the Red River near Clarksville around 1780. His great, great grandfather was a stonemason who worked on the construction of the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville from 1847 to 1852. He was a member of the First Families of Tennessee and past president of the Andrew Jackson Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Dr. Jones was a profoundly grateful man, thankful for every new day, every opportunity and blessing he received, and for every one of the family, friends, colleagues and students who graced his life. He was a lover of people and created community wherever he went. These relationships sustained and invigorated him, and the family is grateful to everyone who contributed to the love and laughter that surrounded him and us for so many years.

His tombstone has the same quote from Chaucer as that on Dr. Fuller's "...and gladly would he learn, and gladly teach."

In lieu of flowers, a donation may be sent to The Mayo Clinic Cancer Research Foundation, the Nashville Public Library Adult Literacy Program, or the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association in recognition of their contributions to our world.