Harold Jones

Harold Irving Jones, 90, of Mt. Pleasant, IA, died Thursday, September 09, 2010, at Henry County Health Center. A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 26th at 2:30 p.m. at Sunnybrook Assisted Living. A memorial mass will follow at 4:00 p.m. that afternoon at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Mt. Pleasant with the Reverend Joseph Phung, celebrant. The body has been cremated. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be left in his honor to the Alzheimer's Association and American Lung Association. The son of Irving H. and Daisy Mae (King) Jones, Harold was born April 20, 1920 in Larksville, PA. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture from Penn State University. Following graduation in 1941 he was selected as a U.S. Federal-state inspector for processing and shipment of fruits and vegetables. In April 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Following basic training he attended Navy Radio School, then Officers Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and attended the USA Radio School at Fort Monmouth, NJ for high-frequency radios, then Air Warning Communications School. He served first at USMC MADC-1 at Cherry point, NC, and then AWS-14 at Columbia, SC as a Communications Officer. In 1945 he went to Eniwetokk Atoll, then Okinawa and Japan with the 2nd Marine Air Wing. He completed the war as a Captain and remained in the Marine Reserves for four years. On June 10, 1945, he married Helen C. Farrell in St. Peter's Catholic Church while stationed at Conagree Marine Air Field in Columbia, SC. In 1947 he joined Berks-LeHigh Coop as a field man and moved on to a position as the pack house superintendent for Trexter Farms, shipping apples, peaches and grapes. He left this position to attend graduate school at North Carolina State and received his Masters Degree in Agriculture. In 1951 he accepted a position with The J.E. Baker Co. in York, PA that was to become his career for the bulk of his working life. Until 1954 he supervised the maintenance of Baker's apple and cherry orchards in Mt. Wolf, PA and Inwood, WV. He went on to a position in Sales in the Rock Products Division and was responsible for the promotion and sale of Baker agricultural products and industrial lime products. He was promoted to Supervisor of Sales and Customer Service in 1980. He retired to Peoria, AZ in 1986 and was a resident of Iowa since 2004. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Jacobus Lions Club, and the Penn State Alumni Association. He was an avid sports spectator and an avid reader. Along with his wife, Helen, Harold is survived by two daughters, Diane (Aaron) Kruse of Donnellson, IA and Deborah (Ronald) Hampton of Peoria, AZ; a son, Dennis Jones of York, PA; seven grandchildren, Robbie (Paige) Jones, Nathan (Cassandra) Jones, Ashley Jones, Jana (Jeremy) Franz, Krista Hampton, Katie Hampton, and Michael Hampton; and twelve great-grandchildren, Taylor, Faith, Lucas, Scarlett, Paxton, Jonathan, Patrick, Madeline, Crystal, Ashley, Virginia, and Rachel. He was preceded in death by his parents, and a great-grandson, Cade.