Gary Robert Jones, age 78, passed away peacefully at his home in Youngsville, NC on Saturday, May 4th, 2024.
Gary was born on November 3, 1945, in Wyanet, Illinois to the late Robert “Bob” Verle Jones and Betty Streicher Jones. Gary moved to Reidsville, NC with his parents at the age of six when his father was transferred while working with Transcontinental Pipeline, Co. Gary graduated from Reidsville High School in 1963. He later went on to attend Louisburg College and graduated in 1965 with an Associates Degree. He then pursued his Bachelor’s degree and graduated from Elon University, located in Elon, NC in 1968. While attending Elon University, he pledged and joined Iota Tau Kappa fraternity. After graduation from college, Gary began his teaching career with Alamance County Schools. Gary later went on to work for Honeywell as a distributor and sell commercial fire alarms and security systems. His most recent accomplishment was retiring in 2016 from Notifier/Honeywell after 36 years of service where he was named the Domestic Sales Manager of the Year in 2006.
During his recent retirement, he enjoyed taking walks throughout the neighborhood and he continued to be an active member of the Alumni board at Louisburg College. Gary was currently serving as vice chair and was slated to fulfill the role of Chairman prior to his sickness. Gary and his College fraternity brothers from Elon University continued to stay in contact with each other by volunteering at Alumni events and meeting monthly through Zoom calls to continue their friendships.
Gary was an avid fan of the weekday television show Jeopardy and challenged himself nightly by seeing how many daily doubles he could answer. In addition, he enjoyed reading non fiction novels, watching the History channel, reading the daily newspaper, and keeping up with sports. One of the most valued memories that Gary had was visiting his parents while traveling for work, and eating some of his mother’s southern cooking and playing a hand of Gin Rummy with his father. In his spare time, he also enjoyed listening to music and making CD's of his favorite songs.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Gregory L Jones of Reidsville, NC. He is survived by his wife, Marianne Fulford of the home, his niece, Melanie Tudor (Daniel Martin) and his nephew, Derek Jones. Gary also had four great nephews that he enjoyed following and getting regular updates on them: Tyler Tudor, Grayson Tudor, Conner Jones and Caden Jones, all of Reidsville, NC. In addition, he is survived by his sister in law, Carol Jones Lee of Hillsborough, NC. Gary also had several cousins and a special group of friends that he leaves behind.
A Graveside memorial service will be held on May 19th, 2024 at 4:00 PM at Evergreen Memory Gardens, located at 7845 US 158, Reidsville, NC 27320. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to either of the following:
Louisburg College
In Memory of Gary R Jones Class of 1965
ATTN: Institutional Advancement
501 N. Main Street
Louisburg, NC 27549
Or
The Phoenix Club at Elon University
In Memory of Gary R Jones, Class of 68
2500 Campus Box
Elon NC 27244
Memorial Video for Mr. Jones: