JONES, Charles Lloyd 1913-1999

JONES

Posted By: K. Kittleson
Date: 2/12/2011 at 22:43:14

CHARLES LLOYD JONES

NORTHWOOD - Charles Lloyd Jones, 86, died Friday (Sept. 10, 1999) at the Lutheran Retirement Home, Northwood.

Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Northwood United Methodist Church with the Rev. Richard Jensen officiating. Burial will be in Sunset Rest Cemetery, Northwood, with military graveside honors by Our Buddies VFW Memorial Post No. 6779 of Northwood.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at Schroeder & Sites Funeral Home, Northwood, with a Masonic service beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Charlie was born in Audubon in Audubon County, Iowa, on May 26, 1913, to Charles and Ethel (Parrott) Jones. He graduated from Audubon High School in 1931, winning awards in football, baseball, basketball and track and field. He joined the National Guard in 1929 and was activated into federal service in the Army in February 1941, where he served with the 168th Infantry, 34th Red Bull Division in World War II. He was captured in Tunisia, North Africa, on Feb. 17, 1943, thereafter spending 27 months as a POW in camps in Poland and Germany. He was liberated on May 21, 1945, and was honorably discharged as captain in February 1946.

On July 15, 1945, he was united in marriage to Myrtle Polson of Creston and in December bought and operated the Dawn Theater in Elma until March 1954 when fire destroyed the theater and other buildings in the town. He moved to Northwood in 1954 and owned and operated the Northwood Theater until 1960. For a short time Charlie served as town clerk, manager of the Northwood Country Club, column writer for the Northwood Anchor, and thereafter was employed by the Iowa Department of Revenue as an auditor. He retired in June 1978.

Charlie was a member of the United Methodist Church and sang in the choir for many years as well as served on various committees and taught senior high Sunday school in the '60s and '70s. He was a volunteer for and did Red Cross fund-raising and was secretary for the North Iowa Red Cross Chapter from 1986 to 1993. He also was active in the Northeast chapter of ex-POW's and also at the state level.

He served 20 years on the Northwood Park & Recreation Board and many years on the Zoning Board. He was a member of the NIACC Foundation Board from 1986 to 1994. He also served as chairman of the Viking Manor board from 1979 to 1994. He helped to start a local young men's DeMolay chapter and served as its "Dad" in the Northwood Masonic Temple in the '60s and received the DeMolay Legion of Merit Award in 1971. He was a 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge and was also awarded the T.S. Parvin Award for Iowa Masonry and was a member of Northern Lights Masonic Lodge No. 266 as well as VFW Post 6779.

In 1981 he received the T.U.N.E. award for community service to Northwood.

Charlie's voice could be heard all over Northwood in the '60s and '70s when he served as announcer for play-by-play at local high school football games as well as church league softball games in Swensrud Park.

He was an avid golfer, making two holes-in-one over the years. Charlie enjoyed reading, writing, poetry, classical music, good conversation, his children, grandchildren and great-grandson. In 1978 he wrote and had published a book about his POW experiences.

Survivors include his wife Myrtle of Northwood; one son Warren of Los Angeles, Calif.; four daughters, Janis Hendrickson and her husband Chuck of Lake Mills, Eloise Aldrich and her husband Dwight of Glenville, Carol Jones of Stockton, and Lavonne Sporney and her husband Dave of St. Paul, Minn.; 10 grandchildren; one great-grandson; two sisters, Rubie Stofferson and her husband Reno of Harlan, and Helen Mense of St. Peters, Mo.; a brother Ralph of Audubon; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother Louis; and a sister Gertrude, who died in infancy.

Memorials may be given to the United Methodist Church, Northwood; North Iowa Chapter of the Red Cross; the Lutheran Retirement Home, Northwood; American Parkinson's Disease Association; or Hospice of North Iowa.

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