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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