Robert Jones

Robert Jones died peacefully Tuesday afternoon at his Boothbay Harbor, ME. residence after a long battle with Corticobasal degeneration (CBD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease. He was 74. He was a longtime resident of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where he and his wife Linda retired to after raising a family in their hometown of Belmont, MA. Robert Allan Jones was born in Quincy, MA in 1937 and grew up in Belmont, MA, where he met his wife and life-long companion the former Linda Giles. He attended Tufts University, where he was President of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, which he would continue to assist and advise as an adult with childhood friend and college classmate Robert E. McLaughlin. Upon graduation, he became an officer in the US Navy, serving on the USS Harlan Dickson. On June 24 1961, he married Linda. The first of three sons was born the following year. His three sons marveled years later when they learned he was present during the 1962 US naval blockade of Cuba that prevented the Soviets from delivering nuclear missiles to Fidel Castros government. After the Navy, Jones long and successful career in commercial real estate began as a commercial broker for the Niles Co. Jones left brokerage in the early 1970s to begin his own business, Robert A. Jones & Co., which was later renamed The Athenaeum Group, making him a rarity among his contemporary developers | someone who wanted his own name out of the lime light. The Cambridge-based Athenaeum Group owned and developed commercial and residential properties, becoming one of Cambridges largest property owners. After several large West Cambridge projects, Jones became one of the first to identify the East Cambridge/Kendall Square part of Cambridge as a future office and biomedical research hub. In 1979, he and partner K. George Najarian bought and redeveloped the former Athenaeum Press building and opened the still operating Cambridge Athletic Club. In 1982, joined by David Clem, The Athenaeum Group began the 1 million+ square foot redevelopment of the old American Biltrite rubber factory, today known as One Kendall Square, consisting of offices, biomedical research labs, restaurants and the Kendall Square Cinemas. To those who knew him, Jones business successes and drive were only outdone by his brash willingness to take on any charitable cause he believed worthy, particularly those he felt did not receive the support and attention they deserved. These include long-standing leadership roles at the Cambridge Salvation Army, the Cambridge Boy Scouts and the Kendall Community Group, which works to bring financial support to the historically less-advantaged Area Four neighborhood abutting Kendall Square. Always involved, Jones also spent turns leading both the Cambridge Rotary Club and the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce. Less known is the quiet leadership Jones showed in the community, always writing a quiet check to people and organizations in need, calling upon fellow business leaders to do the same, and always providing low rent (or no rent) space when available to a myriad of non-profit organizations needing office space to house operations. Any opportunity to help an organization or person in need usually found Jones getting involved. Jones and his wife retired to their longtime summer home of Boothbay Harbor, Maine in the 1990s and enjoyed life on the ocean. They also travelled to many, many parts of the world including Russia, China, the South Pacific, and many of the places in between, including Bermuda where traveled to for their honeymoon and returned to on an almost annual basis alone, with their children and with grandchildren. In private life, he was also known as someone always there to help, with energy, advice and generosity. In retirement, he enjoyed working on his boats, including a beloved Concordia sailboat and a 30 lobster boat design he helped a local company bring to market, building his own lakeside log cabin with the help of his older brother Dick and many friends, and remained an avid reader. He and his wife touched many lives in the area, notably supporting the Boothbay Region Land Trust and the preservation and restoration of the Boothbay Opera House. In later years, his nine grandchildren and many friends brought him great joy and no shortage of visitors. Besides his wife, Mr. Jones leaves three sons, the Rev. David Grishaw-Jones of Santa Cruz, CA, and Allan Richard Jones and attorney Robert Giles Jones, both of Belmont, MA; a brother, Richard of Melrose, MA; and nine grandchildren. A memorial service was held on Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 at The Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, 125 Townsend Ave, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to either the Salvation Army of Cambridge, MA (http://tinyl.com/867a5g4) or the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor (http://www.congregationalchurchboothbayharbor.org/. Arrangements are entrusted to Simmons, Harrington and Hall Funeral Home 975 Wiscasset Rd Boothbay ME 04537. You Are invited to share you condolences, memories and photos with the family by visiting their Book of Memories at www.hallfuneralhomes.com