School board vet enjoyed traveling
2/20/2005BLUFFTON, Ohio- Clarence "Casey" Jones, a former member of the Hancock County school board who also served on the Cory-Rawson Local school board for 12 years, died Thursday in the Mennonite Memorial Home here. He was 78.
He died of complications of a stroke, family members said.
Mr. Jones, a former purchasing officer for Garwood Industries in Findlay and Superior Coach Co. in Lima, served on the Hancock County school board for five years.
Born in Allen County's Richland Township, he grew up on a grain and livestock farm.
He attended public schools and graduated from Mount Cory High School in 1944.
He was drafted into the Army in 1945 during World War II, his wife, Joan Jones, said. She said he was a sergeant, and spent most of his time in the Philippines.
She said they met while they were both students in the same junior high school; they married on Sept. 12, 1947.
Following the end of his military service, Mr. Jones attended Findlay College for one year and was then hired by Garwood Industries, where he worked for 17 years.
He retired in 1993 after a five-year stint as the purchasing officer for JJL Automotive in Wapakoneta, Ohio.
His wife said he enjoyed watching sports, doing crossword puzzles, and traveling.
A member of the Ebenezer Mennonite Church, Mr. Jones was a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, and a chairman of the missions board at the church where he had been a member since 1935.
"He was an outstanding Christian, a family man who was honest in all his dealings," Mrs. Jones said.
Surviving are his wife, Joan Jones; daughters, Patty Boehm and Cathy Bayliss; sons, Dennis and Tim; and 11 grandchildren.
Visitation will be held after 2 p.m. today at the Chiles & Sons-Laman Funeral Home.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Ebenezer Mennonite Church.
The family suggests tributes to Ebenezer Mennonite Church or the Mennonite Memorial Home.