Submitted by: Dan Rich

Nobel D. Jones

April 14, 1903 - Dec. 2, 1999

South Bend Tribune 12/5/1999

Nobel D. Jones, 96, of South Bend, Ind., died in the early evening on Thursday, Dec. 2, in the Holy Cross Care and Rehabilitation Center. His family is grateful for the care he received there during his last few weeks. He was born in Alba, Texas, in 1903, to Edward and Willie Jones. He and his brother Arvil and two sisters, Ione and Oda, were blessed with kind and loving parents, and a family life rich in things of the spirit.

As a young man he moved to the Kansas City, Mo., area where he married Mildred Dockum in 1929, and they became the parents of Gerald Jones in 1924. She died in 1977 and, in 1978, he married Billie Slocum, who he had known in his youth in Texas. They lived in Oklahoma City, Okla., until her death in 1998 when Nobel moved to South Bend to be near his remaining family.

Nobel was a Christian man, a member of the Mount Washington United Methodist Church of Kansas City, and later of the First Presbyterian Church of Oklahoma City. He was a Mason and a member of the Oklahoma City Elks Lodge 417. He worked in the fire protection industry, primarily as an engineer until well into his 70s. He then worked for Dillard's Department Store until almost 90. He greatly enjoyed fishing, golf, bowling, a good joke, and an occasional rum and coke. Most of all he enjoyed the company of others -- friends, relatives, and even strangers. He never failed anyone who was dependent upon him and never committed an intentionally unkind act.

He is remembered with love and affection by his son, Gerald Jones and wife, Frances Jones of South Bend; his grandchildren, Daniel Jones and wife, Christine Nafe of South Bend, Rachel Jones and husband, Christopher Keeley of Valparaiso, and Michael Jones of South Bend. His great-grandchildren are Maren, Kara, Jeremy and Alexis Jones, Halley Siner and Matthew Keeley. He is also remembered fondly by his first wife's surviving relatives, Edith Marie Long, Nancy and C.E. Nichol and Betty Long, all of Independence, Mo.; by his second wife's family, Robert Slocum, his wife, Linda Slocum and their son, Paul Slocum of Richardson, Texas; and by his nephews, James Patterson of St. Louis, Mo., and Robert Yeary of Plano, Texas. He will be missed as well by the many friends he made along his way.

Friends may visit from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening, Dec. 7, in the Kaniewski Funeral Home, 3545 N. Bendix Drive. A brief memorial service will follow. Burial will be at Highland Cemetery. Those who wish to remember Nobel with a memorial gift in his name might consider the Mount Washington United Methodist Church, 584 S. Arlington Avenue, Independence, MO 64053; to the First Presbyterian Church, 1001 NW 25th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73106-5666; or to any charity targeting children.