Ray Jones, earlier photo

Raymond “Ray” Walter Jones, 88, of LaMoille died Dec. 17, 2009 at the Mendota Lutheran Home.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010 at Waltham Presbyterian Church with Rev. Roy Backus and Rev. Ellsworth Young officiating. Inurnment will follow at Waltham Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9:30-11 a.m. prior to the service on Jan. 9 at the church. Merritt Funeral Home, Mendota provided the arrangements.

Mr. Jones was born Nov. 22, 1921 at the old St. Mary’s Hospital, La Salle to Raymond and Gladys (Behnke) Jones. He married Artharilla Edwards in Indianola, Miss. in 1946. She died in 1978. In 1981, he married Jean Kinzer.

Survivors include his wife, Jean; one son, Charles “Chuck” Jones of Ottawa; six daughters, Kay (Howard) Brauhn of Ottawa, Patricia McManimon of Ewing, N.J., Jackie Jones-Bailey of Spring Valley, Jodie Foster of Valdez, Alaska, Rae Jones of La Salle and Jill (Steve) Durant of Brandon, Fla.; two stepdaughters, Kathy (Michaele Trumbower) Clay of Jackson, Wyo. and Sandra Kinzer of Paw Paw, Mich.; one special daughter-in-law, Linda Jones of Ottawa; 11 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

He was preceded in death by his first wife; one brother, Ross Charles Jones; one grandson, Chad Jones; and one granddaughter, Christa Jones Demo.

Mr. Jones graduated from Tramp Hollow School 183 and Mendota High School. During WWII, Mr. Jones entered the U.S. Navy and later transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps. He graduated as a flight officer rated for the four-engine B24 and B29. At the start of the Korean War he helped form the La Salle Civil Air Patrol and later formed the Spring Valley Fliers. He served on the Utica Fire Department for 32 years. He farmed in the Waltham area, worked in local factories and entered the La Salle County Sheriff’s Department in 1963. He held memberships in several fraternal organizations and planted the Utica American Legion trees.

Memorials may be directed to Waltham Presbyterian Church or the donor’s choice.