Services Set Friday For Jesse Russell Jones, 85

Jesse Russell Jones

Jesse Russell Jones, 85, of Sitka, passed away November 8 peacefully in his sleep. 

Jesse was born on October 16, 1937,  to Samuel and Naomi Jones in Clinton, Missouri. He enjoyed long summers in the countryside until moving to Kansa City, Missouri, where he graduated from Argentine High School in 1955.

After graduating, he entered the United States Air Force and became an airplane mechanic, enjoying international travel and serving his country.

After finishing his service, he followed his older brother, J.C., north to Alaska to pursue a career in the timber industry working as a pipefitter for roughly 25 years at the pulp mill in Sitka where he also served as President of the labor union, Local 962.

In 1973 he met Sandra Kern at his brother Martin’s house in Stockton, California, while on vacation. It was love at first sight for both of them. Jesse and Sandy were married on June 1, 1974, and went on to have two sons, Michael and Scott. They remained married until Sandy’s passing in 2006.

Jesse also was predeceased by his parents and his siblings, James Calvin Jones, Bonnie Jean Waugh, Samuel Preston Jones Jr., and Ada Belle Yarnell.

He is survived by his brother Martin Lee Jones, his sons Michael and Scott, and his greatest joys, his granddaughters Rylen and Athena.

A service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday, November 18, at Sitka National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that a donation be made to The American Cancer Society or, if wishing to contribute locally, to consider Brave Heart Volunteers. 

 

Thanks to the generosity and expertise of the the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska broadband department, Tidal Network ; Christopher Cropley, director of Tidal Network; and Luke Johnson, Tidal Network technician, SitkaSentinel.com is again being updated. Tidal Network has been working tirelessly to install Starlink satellite equipment for city and other critical institutions, including the Sentinel, following the sudden breakage of GCI's fiberoptic cable on August 29, which left most of Sitka without internet or phone connections. CCTHITA's public-spirited response to the emergency is inspiring.

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20 YEARS AGO

September 2004

Photo caption: Jan Nelson, a White Elephant shop volunteer, stands with George Rohrer as he tries out a new public address system installed in the shop. The equipment was bought using money donated to the White Elephant in memory of George’s wife, Violet, a longtime White E volunteer.

50 YEARS AGO

September 1974

Photo caption: A dahl sheep, a totem bookend and a fishing boy won awards for Sitkan Robert C. Turner at the International Wood Carvers Congress, in Davenport, Iowa. The three pieces also took first place at the Fur Rendezvous Handicraft Show earlier this year.

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