JONES, EDWARD D.
Edward Duane “Buck” Jones passed away peacefully at his Camano Island home October 1, 2004.
He was born on Dec 7, 1914 to parents Bertha May Henderson and Llewellyn Christmas Jones in Chicago, IL. He graduated from high school in Downer’s Grove, IL and spent nine months in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. He then went on to comple bookkeeping and stenography courses at Bryant and Stratton Business College. In 1933, after working six months in the Chicago Loop, he caught a freight train out west, hopping off on skid road in Spokane. After pitching bundles of wheat he headed to Brewster for the apple harvest. He was run out of the valley after agitating for pay increases and then headed to Camano Island where land was $2 an acre and you could subsist on seafood. With a friend he built a log cabin on Carp Lake and the following spring ventured north to Alaska to work in the fish canneries and later on schooners out of Seattle to commercially fish in Puget Sound and Alaska. He had saved enough by the fall of 1939 to begin fisheries studies at the U of W, eventually changing his major to pre-medicine.
A few days after Pearl Harbor, his 27th birthday, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was with Carlson’s Raiders (2nd Raider Battalion) in Hawaii, Bougainville and Guadalcanal, then reassigned to the 3rd Battalion in a new 5th Marine Division on Iwo Jima. After the loss of their company commander, their platoon commander and the platoon sergeant above him, he and B.O. Queen took joint command of the remaining troops. It was on Iwo Jima that he took a bullet in the right shoulder while carrying a fellow soldier to safety. Prior to his injury he was at the base of Mt. Suribachi when the famous photograph of the flag raising was taken at its summit. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for gallantry in action. He and the remainders of his troops received the Presidential Unit Citation.
After recuperation, he returned to the U of W and joined Delta Upsilon fraternity to complete undergraduate and graduate studies in law. He met and married the love of his life, Katherine Adele Marshall, on September 11, 1947, who preceded him in death on March 27, 2004. After passing the Bar Exam they moved to Stanwood, WA in 1950 and he began his private practice.
Kay and Ed raised and are survived by their five children, Katherine (Gary) Austin, of Camano Island, Robert Llewellyn Jones and his partner Dan Hinkley of Indianola, WA; Gwendolyn (Guy) Piercey, Ellyn Charity (Terry Benham) Thoreen of Camano Island, WA and Cynthia (Phil) Oman of Long Beach, WA; grandchildren, Jessica of Seattle, Michelle of Fort Hood, TX, Dan of Bellevue, WA, Katherine and Lauren, of Edmonds, WA; Bjorn, USMC, Alex, Karl, and Marina.
Ed was city attorney of Stanwood for many years, he served on the Sno-Island Regional Library Board, was founder and secretary of the Stanwood-Camano Area Foundation, which funded, among many other things, the building of the Stanwood Library and its expansion, library improvements, furniture and computers, scholarships for local students, equipment for local aid cars, the senior center, the food bank, swimming lessons for children and a camp at Lake Goodwin for disabled children. He was a member of the Order of Masons, Camano Lodge 19 and progressed through all chairs, was a member and president of the Stanwood Lion’s Club, and belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.
In 1978 Ed was named Citizen of the Year for many years of service to north Snohomish County, including his work on the Snohomish County Planning Commission, the incorporation of East Stanwood and Stanwood which was instrumental in the ability to provide the town with a municipal sewer system, his efforts in achieving the SR530 connection from Stanwood to I-5, and his dedication to the Stanwood-Camano Area Foundation.
Ed’s passion for music was fulfilled by his active involvement in numerous musical venues including the Norwegian Male Chorus, the Anachords Barbershop Chorus, and the Stanwood-Camano Chorale. He was an opera buff of 70 years (one of his favorite characters is Mephistopheles in Faust), an avid gardener, and a recovering alcoholic. A man among men, attorney, veteran, philanthropist, civil servant, devoted husband, father and grandfather, he is, and forever will be, greatly missed.
The family has special praise and thanks to Kathy Peebler and the many wonderful people who provided Ed with excellent and loving care. With their help we were able to keep him at home as he wished.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are welcomed to the Stanwood-Camano Area Foundation, PO Box 1209, Stanwood, WA 98292. You may designate either the Edward D. and Katherine A. Jones Scholarship Fund, or the Kathy Peebler Caregivers Scholarship Fund as recipient.
A memorial service will be held 11:00 am, Saturday, October 9, 2004 at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Stanwood.
Arrangements under the direction of Gilbertson Funeral Home, Stanwood.