More detail on this person: Capt. Gary R Jones, 67, passed into our Fathers arms on Friday,
November 30, 2012. Born on July 26th 1945 in Texarkana, Texas to Valer Mae and JR Jones. Gary was
preceded in death by his mother Valer Mae Smith Jones of Wichita Falls, Texas. He is survived by his
wife, Stephanie of 31 years; two sons, Jason Jones of Sulpher Springs, Texas, and Brian Johnson and
wife, Amanda of Queen Creek, Arizona; 5 grandchildren, Caden, Addison, Dawson, Saryn and Griffin;
parents, JR and Mable Jones of Farmers Branch,Texas; Gary's sister, Brenda Davis and husband,
Roger Davis; nephew, Rick Davis and wife, Stacey and their son, Blake and great niece, Darbi Davis,
all of Texarkana,Texas. Sisters Lorie Oliver and Sonya Green both of Carrollton; nieces, Meghann and
Madison Oliver of North Dallas and nephew, Travis and wife, Miranda of Celina, Texas; three
brother-in-laws, Michael Coates of Niles, Ohio, Stephen Coates of Millersburg, Ohio, Keith Woodson
wife, Cathy and three nieces Annie Germschied, Christie and Kelsie Woodson of Rowlett. Gary
attended school in both Daingerfield and Texarkana. He graduated from Texarkana High School in 1963.
Gary was a proud member and officer of the United States Army. He was a graduate from OCS at Fort
Benning, Georgia in 1968 and after completing flight training at Fort Walters in Primary Helicopter
he attended advanced helicopter training at Fort Rucker, Alabama in March of 1968. Gary was deployed
to Vietnam where he was with the 187th AHC Crusaders and later with the RAT PACK (locate and
rescue) 3/17 Air Cav and the 1001 Hunter Killer Team. Gary flew in Panama with the Unit Southern
Command until 1971. Captain Jones received many awards and medals of which 38 were air medals,
The Bronze Star w/Valor, the Distinguished Flying Cross and 2 Purple Hearts. When he returned to the
states, Gary lived and worked in Sulpher Springs in the 70's then he worked in Houston for Gifford
Hill in the Aggregate Division and later moved to the Dallas FW area to work for Gifford Hill & Co
Dallas in the Redi-mix division as a salesman for many years. After Gifford Hill, Gary worked for
other such construction materials companies like Houser, US Stone, Green Aggregates and
Destructors. Gary loved to hunt in South Dakota with his Dad and in South Texas with family and
friends. He loved to play dominos. He was an avid water skier, a sometimes golfer and he enjoyed
fishing. Gary was a member of the Carrollton VFW and a member of the 187th Vietnam Helicopter
Assoc. Gary was a humble man, a good friend and neighbor and he was very proud of his sons, his
nephew and his grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the DFW National Cemetery at 2000
Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75211 on Thursday, December 6th at 3:30pm. The Eulogy will
be given by dear friend and fellow pilot Full Colonel Kenneth Pankey. A Celebration of Gary's Life
will be on Saturday, December 8th at 4pm at the Circle R Ranch, located at 5901 Cross Timbers Road
in Flower Mound, Texas. Our gratitude to the VA Medical teams and sincere appreciation to All of the
employees at the Dallas Veterans Hospital for 5 years of excellent care. We would also like to thank
Vitas for outstanding Hospice. In leiu of flowers please send any donations to the Wounded Warriors
Project at got@woundedwarriorproject.org
Published in Dallas Morning News on December 4, 2012
This information was last updated 03/15/2012
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