Richard Jones 'Dick' - Winterset

Rev. Richard Lloyd Jones, after a short bout with illness, and a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, entered into his eternal reward on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 shortly after 9pm in the evening. He passed away at Winterset Care Center North, Winterset, Iowa. Richard entered the world in the usual way on April 13, 1924 in Council Bluffs, Iowa to Richard Durl Jones and Purna Viola Jones n̩e Cross. I'd like to say that it was a beautiful day filled with sunshine but I can't because the weather records just don't go back that far. Much of his youth was spent at or near his parents house in Council Bluffs along the Missouri river or at his grandparents house in Missouri Valley, Iowa. Particularly, times spend in Missouri Valley provided him with any number of stories of adventures with his uncle Asa "Acey" Cross which he was always happy to retell if asked. He attended school in Council Bluffs through the 8th grade, and then met a girl from his neighborhood who had earned the puzzling nickname "Datie". After some courting which included things like carting her around on the handlebars of his bicycle, they fell in love. On February 28th, 1942 at Rockport, Missouri, Richard was honored to make Marve Belle "Datie" Clemens his wife. He would spent much of the next 67 years of marriage uncovering the mystery and cherishing the prize that can only be found in a loving wife. Like many men of his time, Richard soon answered the call to arms and in 1943 joined the United States Army. He served with the Anti-tank Company, 346th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division. He achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant and acted as the Squad Leader for his 57mm Anti-Tank squad. The 87th Infantry Division saw action in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. It also saw extensive action in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. He considered staying in the Army after the war as he had been offered the rank of 1st Sergeant but as he would recount many years later, he was starting a family and did not feel like that would be a good way to raise them. He paid the bills over the years as a commercial painter, repairing automotive upholstery, and ultimately as an automobile body repair craftsman. Whether it was ensuring that a paint line was perfect, a color matched perfectly, or running a ball bearing down the seam between two body panels, attention to detail became the calling card in whatever he did. This was not limited to his work as Richard reached far beyond his employment and over the years became an accomplish still life and landscape painter, a master with pen and ink, an accomplished woodworker, gardener, handyman, and mechanic. Though he enjoyed these pursuits, his greatest love was the love he had for God and his faith in Jesus Christ. As is recorded in one of his bibles in his own hand, Richard came to faith in Jesus in the "kitchen at home" in 1949. Over the years, Richard became a self-educated bible scholar and served many years as an ordained minister with the Church of God of Prophecy as pastor, evangelist, teacher and the church's Sunday School Superintendent for the State of Iowa. In his service as the overseer of Sunday Schools, Richard would often travel to the many congregations around the state. He recognized that Sunday school was primarily for the children and always cared for them whether it be through the use of a puppet show or by dressing his grandsons up as clowns to teach the children about Jesus. Here again, that relentless attention to detail rang through whether he was fashioning a puppet out of Styrofoam and a cardboard tube or writing a beautiful sermon that he hoped would bring people to Christ. Richard, Dick to his friends, Dad or Daddy to his children, Grampa to his grandkids, "Grampa Ampa" on occasion to a few and simply "Richard" to his "Datie", was always quick with a smile, ready with a hug, slow to anger, quick to love and ornery as the day is long. He is preceded into the next life by his parents Richard Durl Jones and Purna Viola Jones n̩e Cross, his loving wife and mother of his children Marve Belle "Datie" Jones n̩e Clemens in 2009, many uncles, cousins brothers and sisters. He is survived and celebrated by his 4-children, Larry Jones and his wife Nancy Jones n̩e Callaghan of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Marcellina Smith n̩e Jones of Winterset, Iowa, Keith Jones and his wife Judy Jones n̩e Hayes of Baltimore Maryland, and David Jones and his wife Jody Jones n̩e Linden of Edgerton, KS. Through them he has been given 13-grandchildren, 44-great grandchildren (and counting) and, at the time of this writing, 2-great-great-grandchildren. May we all strive to live as he did, always with a whistle on our lips, a phrase or two in pig-latin to keep people on their toes coming from our mouth, a puzzle in our pocket and God and family always in our hearts. Service: 11:00 AM Friday May 15, 2015 McCalley - Collins Funeral Home Winterset Visitation: Noon to 8 PM Thursday May 14, 2015 Family Receiving Friends from 6 to 8 PM McCalley - Collins Funeral Home Winterset