HERBERT JONES Jr.

1923 - 2020

JONES HERBERT HARRIS JONES, JR. Departed this life on Wednesday, August 26, 2020. He was the eldest child of the late Herbert Harris Jones and Geneva Tinsley Jones. Born on November 9, 1923, in the historical community of Deanwood in Washington, DC, he attended Deanwood Elementary and studied classical piano at the Washington Conservatory of Music. Herbert was a graduate of Dunbar High School, receiving awards in swimming, and then attended Howard University. Herbert enjoyed a 30 year career at the U.S. Patent Office-Department of Commerce as a patent researcher, but aviation was what truly filled his spirit. Herbert's first flight was with the famous barnstormer Clarence Chamberlain at D.C.'s Capitol Airport. With his mentor and lifelong friend (Chief) Alfred Anderson providing flight instruction, Herbert earned his private pilot's license at the age of 16. Herbert Jones enrolled at the Cornelius Coffey School of Aeronautics in Chicago for six months under the Civilian Pilot Training Program. He was an Army Air Corps aviation cadet during World War II, training at Moten Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. Denied postwar pilot opportunities with the major airlines due to racism, Jones' love for aviation never waned. He joined with John Green as an instructor with Cloud Club, a group of Black airmen who operated and flew out of the historic Columbia Air Center (CAC) in Croom, MD; one of the first Black owned and operated airfields in the United States. Later he became a co-owner of the Columbia Air Center (CAC). Herbert was a Lieutenant Colonel in the National Capital Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. While at the Columbia Squadron, operating from the Columbia Air Center, Jones trained aviation cadets, working tirelessly grooming cadets in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) core values of integrity, volunteer service, excellence, and respect. Herbert was promoted to Director of Flight Operations for the National CapitalWing and later retired after more than 30 years of distinguished service. In 1972, Jones and four others purchased a 100 passenger, four engine DC-7 aircraft and started International Air Association, Inc. a Black-owned airline and travel club and that offered flights to New York, Houston, Miami, the Bahamas, and Trinidad. Operating out of National Airport in D.C., and later Martin State Airport outside of Baltimore, MD.; Jones, along with pilots Joseph Buebe, Lloyd LaGrange and flight attendants Barbara Carter, Roberta Yancey and Brenda Pittman, made history as one of a first Black owned air transport carriers in the U.S. A decade later, Jones realized his dream of opening a flight school, Cloud Club II. Jones said, "Watching students fly solo for the first time is probably the second biggest thrill of my life." The flight school advanced Jones' lifelong goal of involving more African American youth in aviation. Cloud Club II was founded by Jones and his wife, Mildred Nelson, and trained many future general aviation, commercial and military pilots over a 20 year period. Cloud Club II also provided annual support to the East Coast Chapter Tuskegee Airmen International (ECCTAI) Youth in Aviation Program. Today, that legacy lives on with the flight school named in his honor-H.J. Aviation building upon an 80 year legacy of aviation training. Herbert was a lifelong active member of both the East Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen International (ECCTAI), and the local chapter of the Black Pilot's of America (BPA), the Herbert Jones Jr Chapter is named in his honor. Herbert attended First Baptist of Deanwood and later Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, where he was a member of the Brotherhood Men's Fellowship Group. He is preceded in death by his brother, Edward Jones, his sister in law Effie Jones, his first-wife, Dorothy Rowe Jones and his first cousin and fellow Tuskegee Airman - Andrew Turner. He is survived by his loving wife, Mildred Nelson (Cloud Club II Co-Founder), two sons, Herbert Harris Jones III and Rodney Tinsley Jones. Two daughters-in-law, Joselyn Schmidt -Jones and Angela Jones; his grandson, Leslie Schmidt; two extraordinary sisters, Florence Jones Pritchett and Sylvia Jones Suescun and nephews, James Pritchett, Franz Jones and Kevin Jones and a host of relatives and great long time, valued friends. A Memorial Service is planned for a future date due to current pandemic safety concerns. The family wishes that all expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to aviation training scholarships for young people in the Washington, D.C. area. Please send donations to the Herbert Jones Jr Chapter, BPA. , Address: HJ Aviation, 10300 Glen Way, Fort Washington, MD 20744. A Memorial Service is planned for a future date due to current pandemic safety concerns. The family wishes that all expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to aviation training scholarships for young people in the Washington, D.C. area. Please send donations to the Herbert Jones Jr Chapter, BPA. , Address: HJ Aviation, 10300 Glen Way, Fort Washington, MD 20744.