Claude M. Jones

Claude Jones, a resident of Taos, passed peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of October 22, 2015. At the time of his passing he was a resident of Taos Retirement Village. Claude was born in Italy, Texas in 1919 to Claud and Bettie Sue Jones. He was a star football player for Italy High School Gladiators and received more than one scholarship offer to play college football, but because of the Great Depression he found work in the San Joaquin valley of California so that he could send money home to his family. Claude first met Genevieve Alice Cole, his future wife, when she was fifteen years old. They reconnected when they were both 20, dated, and married on June 23, 1940. At the outbreak of World War II Claude enlisted in the United States Navy and served with distinction aboard ship in the South Pacific where he was involved in heavy combat during several major naval battles. While aboard ship he received word that his son, Carl, had been born on his and Alices third wedding anniversary in 1943. At the end of the War Claude and Alice were reunited and he saw his son for the first time when Carl was twenty-six months old. Claude and Alice lived in San Diego, California; and Dallas, San Antonio, Abilene, Houston and Austin, Texas before moving to Taos in 2007. Alice passed in the presence of her family on January 20, 2014. At the time of her passing she and Claude had been married for more than 73 years. Claude spent much of his post-war life in the heavy-duty truck business and owned a Freightliner Truck dealership in Abilene, Texas at the time of his retirement. He was an avid bass fisherman, loved to play dominos, and remained a football fan his entire life, his favorite football team being the University of Texas Longhorns. He was a voracious reader and he remained mentally alert to the very end. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Taos and continued to attend church services until failing health intervened. He is survived by his son, Carl, and daughter-in-law Lin, of Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, granddaughter Kelly Jones of Portland, Oregon, and granddaughter Jolie Jones of Taos, as well as sister-in-law Marguerite Owen of Keller, Texas, and many nephews and nieces. Arrangements by Rivera Family Funeral Home.