Don Jones remembered for energy, enthusiasm
Don Jones and Cindy Morrison had just finished giving out certificates of appreciation to all the people who had made last summer’s Strawberry Festival a success when Jones turned to Morrison, put his hand on her shoulder and said, “I’m good to go next year if you are.”
“That is Don. It was always like that with him. He was so thrilled to see everyone have such a good time. We were all just exhausted but Don was ready to go again,” recalled Morrison Monday of a man who seemed to be as tall on energy as he was in stature.
Mr. Jones ended every e-mail he ever sent as co-chair of the Strawberry Festival in 2002 with by saying: “Y’all are the greatest.”
A former professional baseball pitcher, Seafair Festival managing director and Commodore, private school director and Unlimited Racing Commission commissioner, Mr. Jones died Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2003, at the Living Care Center in West Seattle. His wife of 25 years, Thea Jones of Vashon, was with him. Mr. Jones was 73 years old.
While his involvement in hydroplane safety and corporate sponsorship of hydroplane racing was nationally known and well-respected in Seattle, it was the things he did without public recognition that earned him respect on Vashon Island.
New islander Sam Collins recalls how he met Mr. Jones and how Collins and his wife were living in the San Francisco Bay area and longed to live on Vashon.
“We were problem clients because we weren’t able to move real fast. We didn’t have jobs here. We put an offer on one house and it wasn’t the right time and he kept rolling with the punches and understanding where we were. It never seemed to be about the sale with him. It was about us,” Collins recalled.
While real estate agents normally take their clients to dinner, the Collins ended up taking the Jones’ to dinner because Collins credited Mr. Jones with making the family dream of moving to Vashon come true.
Real estate agents across the island have similar stories. Emma Amiad noted how Mr. Jones was always warm and friendly “even when things were not going well.” And he was always open to others, she recalled.
Bill Chunn of Vashon Island Realty worked with Mr. Jones for 10 years.
“He had organization skills that just didn’t end. He knew people from high places all around the country. King County Executive Ron Sims was a personal friend. When Ron Reagan’s son walked through the door he knew him right away,” Chunn said.
“He worked hard and was terribly diligent. But he was always fun to play with. We’d go out for nachos and beer on Friday nights until he joined the Mormon church. He’d just have nachos after he joined the church,” Chunn said of Mr. Jones joining his wife’s church two months ago.
Friends say he joined the church in part because of their family values and that he felt remorseful that he hadn’t had more time to spend with his grandchildren.
Mr. Jones was born Aug. 23, 1929, in Seattle. He graduated from Garfield High School and attended the University of Washington.
The Brooklyn Dodgers picked him up on the Class AA team in Billings, Mont.
But he returned to Seattle where he worked in the payroll office and did computer work for The Boeing Company. His skills in computer graphics remained honed and were used during the Strawberry Festival frequently.
Mr. Jones also is credited with raising money for Seafair, a skill he brought to the Strawberry Festival that helped make the Festival successful.
“Merrill Jannison came up with the idea of sponsorships. When Don came on in 2000, he taught us how to do sponsorships correctly and take it to a new level and from his day forward, it’s been profitable,” said Beachcomber publisher Lee Ockinga, who worked with Mr. Jones on the Festival.
In the world of hydroplanes, Mr. Jones also was instrumental in developing a closed cockpit, which Seafair organizers say has saved the lives of many racers. Mr. Jones also fought to enforce limits on alcohol consumption at Seafair Festivals.
Survivors include his wife, Thea Jones of Vashon, daughters Patrice Kathleen MacDonald of Seattle, Monica Mary Jones and her husband Bruce of Novato, Calif., Elaine Louise Jones of Loleta, Calif., son Donald Clayton Jones, Jr. of Seattle, grandchildren Lindsey Alana Smith, Eric Colleen MacDonald, Megan Elizabeth MacDonald, Carmen Mercedes Vecchitto, Miles Rosario Vecchitto, Max Kendall Vecchitto, Nila M. Bugala, and Heidi Noella Bugala.
Stepson Richard Gene Gray died earlier.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Vashon Island Pet Protectors, P.O. Box 245, Vashon Island, Wash. 98070.
