Opa Morris Jones, 94, of Sissonville, WV and Kingsport, TN (since August, 2011) died on January 8, 2013, of natural causes. He was born on July 8, 1918, in rural Kanawha County, WV, near Sissonville. He was a 1938 graduate of Sissonville High School. Opa was married to Mary Bumgardner Jones. Opa and Mary raised their three children (Glen, Burl and Lenora) while residing in Pocatalico, WV.
Opa retired from DuPont in Belle, WV, on January 1, 1981, after more than forty years of service as an operator, foreman and training supervisor.
Opa was a founding member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Sissonville, WV, where he served in many leadership, mentoring, teaching and speaking capacities over the years. He was a district certified lay speaker for the church. He also was an active member of Gideons International and filled many pulpits around the Charleston area with the Gideon message.
Opa had many other interests and skills including gardening, mechanical repairs, carpentry, electrical wiring, fishing and big game hunting in WV and MT.
Opa was preceded in death by his wife, Mary; parents, Phillip Sheridan and Mary Blackshire Jones; daughter, Lenora Harris; brothers, Harry, Lincoln, and Charles "Jack" Jones; sisters, Hattie Crowder and Francis Tappan; half-brothers, Forrest Jones and William Shouldis; and half-sister, Oakley Harper.
Opa is survived by his sons, Glen and wife, Martha, of Kingsport, TN, Burl and wife, Eunice, of Huntley, MT; son-in-law, Mark Harris, of Charleston, WV; grandsons, Mark Jones and wife, Michaela, of Huntley, MT, Jeffrey Jones, of Mill Valley, CA, Allen Jones and wife, Karen, of Bozeman, MT, Bryan Jones, of Morristown, TN; granddaughter, Anna Faulkner, of Charleston, WV; great-granddaughters, Morgan, Baylee and Kasey Jones, of Huntley, MT; great-grandson, Corlan Jones, of Bozeman, MT; brother Curtis Jones and wife, Lilly, of Marianna, FL; and several nieces and nephews.
Service will be 3:00 PM Saturday, January 12th at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Sissonville with Pastor Brad Bennett officiating. Interment will follow in Floral Hills Garden of Memories, Sissonville, WV.
Friends may call from 1 - 3 p.m. at the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider a gift in Opa''s memory to Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Sissonville, WV, towards their Community Center Project.
Opa''s family extends much gratitude towards family members and dear friends who assisted him and us in so many ways in recent years. Those friends helped him remain in his home in Sissonville for several months prior to his move to Kingsport, TN.
Long and Fisher Funeral Home, Sissonville, is in charge of arrangements.