John Henry Jones, who died of cancer Nov. 25at age 51 at his Colorado Springs home, spent nearly half his life as a master sergeant, schooling troops in the discipline and decisiveness that served him so well.
Born Sept. 23, 1955, he grew up in rural Arkansas and attended Arkansas State University. When he decided on a military career, he set himself to get in shape for the U.S. Army’s famously punishing basic training camp.
“After school every day, he’d just run because he knew you had to run so many minutes and so many miles in the Army,” said his wife, Linda Jean Abraham Jones. “No matter how far or how long they told him to run, he knew he could do it. He was a man who set a goal and went after it. And 90 percent of the time, he got it.”
During his military career, Jones maintained a stern, paternal attitude toward his troops. His assignments took him to South Korea, Germany and stateside military bases.
Soldiers respected him, and many made the transition from soldier to friend. They knew they made the cut when Jones invited them to play dominoes. He liked to joke that he invented the game, said Johnny Armstrong, a soldier who trained under Jones.
“He used to say, ‘You have to remember what’s on the table and what’s been played,”‘ his wife said. “‘You have to know what’s left. You don’t know whose hand it’s in, but you know what’s out there. And you play on what you know. That way, you’ll always win.’ He played dominoes like he lived his life.”
She met her husband one warm summer day when she was working at a bank on the Fort Carson Army post near Colorado Springs. He caught her eye the moment he walked in.
He was wearing shorts so starched and ironed that the crease looked razor-sharp. His muscular legs looked pretty good too. She later learned that he spent 90 minutes working out at least three times a week to stay fit.
He proposed a week after they met.
“When you know what you want, it doesn’t take a lifetime to figure it out. You just go for it,” his wife said. “He died the way he lived. Yeah, he did.
“Went to the doctor in October. Diagnosed with colon cancer that metastasized, two months to live. He wasn’t a doctor person. I guess he thought he could fix everything on his own.”
Besides his wife, survivors include his mother, Everlina Kennor Jones of West Memphis, Ark.; stepchildren Linda Michelle Abraham and Marcus Abraham of Colorado Springs; sisters Ethel Jennings of Carson, Calif., Mary Lee Brown of Dayton, Ohio, Jennie Seawood of West Memphis, Ark., Odessa Thomas of Tacoma, Wash., and Ola Latham, Martha Murray and Ruby Williams, all of Buffalo, N.Y.; brothers Lydell Jones of West Memphis, Ark., Melvin Jones of Los Angeles and Charlie Jones of California; and two grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father and a brother.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
