We are saddened to share with you the passing of Brother David “Sam” Jones.
Sam was a Tech Crew Chief and had been with us here in Tulsa since 1986.
Please keep the Jones family in your thoughts and prayers.
Obituary for David A. Jones, III “Sam”
David is survived by his wife of almost 35 years (April 2021) and the love of his life, Lorna L. (Schmidgall) Jones; his son and daughter in law David A. Jones IV and Kim Lewellen of Minneapolis, MN. His mother Abigail S. Jones, mother in law Martha Schmidgall, 2 sisters Kathryn Jones and husband, Kenneth Kosieracki and Cynthia Jones and husband Jeffery Thetge; sister in law Ann and husband Terry Brppls. nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles and house guest Bonnie VanDeRaa. He was predeceased by his father.
He and his sisters and cousins spent wonderful summer days during their childhood. They all remember him reading the Britannica Encyclopedias while they played.
David graduated in 1979 from Conneaut Valley High School in Conneautville, PA. He completed his 4 year apprenticeship to become a journeyman tool and die maker at Pennsylvania Tool & Gages in Meadville, PA and moved to Tulsa in 1984. He was employed by American Airlines as a tool design crew chief where he worked for 35 years.
He was an active participant in the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministries for a number of years and made many friends in the group, as well as a member of the Jesus Seminar for many years. He was a lifelong member of the Community of Christ Church and served in the office of Elder at the Tulsa Central Congregation.
David was a progressive, liberal (always described himself as the most liberal man in the State of Oklahoma!), adaptable husband, father and son. He was a raconteur of life’s little ironies and never forgot anything. His particular avocations were theology, history and family genealogy. He did not just talk the talk (and boy could he talk!) ask anyone who knew him and he walked the walk. No pretense or façade.
He may be gone but his memory will live on joyfully in the many lives he touched in his short 59 years with his kindness, intelligence, generosity and awesome sense of humor and story telling ability.
He enjoyed many years of bird hunting with several good friends and his son in the Dakotas, Nebraska and Iowa with his exceptional English Pointer “Buddy” (oh the stories he would tell of their relationship) and yellow lab “Lady”. David enjoyed driving fast and his trucks were always the latest GMC or Chevy (none other!). He delighted friends and family with stories of his football years in high school, and his annual summer pilgrimage back to Pennsylvania to visit family, friends and classmates (actually all the family knew he came back for Hanks Frozen Custard!).
His family would like to thank and offer their sincere appreciation to the wonderful and caring COVID-19 staff at Saint Francis. His care was superb.
Due to gravity of the circumstances and the result the pandemic has brought into our lives, current conditions have necessitated measures prohibiting a customary farewell. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held in the Floral Haven Funeral Home Chapel with limited seating at 10:00 AM on Thursday, February 4, 2021. For those that wish to watch the service via a live-stream feed, please click on the following link to start viewing the live feed. The live feed will start 5 minutes prior to service time. LINK: http://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/46926
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Domestic Violence Intervention Services of Tulsa by going to:
https://dvis.org/donate/donate-now/. Or to the charity of your choice.