Beloved husband, father, uncle, godfather, and friend, George W. Jones passed away suddenly at his home in Olney, MD on March 30, 2023, due to complications from ALS. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Loretta Pleasant-Jones; their children, Melissa Khenane (Louis), George Pleasant-Jones, Roberto "Tito" Alarcon (Jill), and Jessica Pleasant-Jones; five grandchildren, Boston Haley, Rosalie Khenane, Luciana Alarcon, Anabel Alarcon, and Meziane George Khenane; nephew Ja'Marr Jackson; and a host of loving family members and dear friends.
George was born on July 27, 1953, in Baltimore, MD, the only child of George W. and Mattie Reed Jones. After graduating in 1971 from Douglas High School in Baltimore, he attended the University of Chicago, graduating in 1975, and then Yale Law School, class of 1978, where he met his wife, Loretta, and married her in1978.
After law school, he clerked for Judge Philip Tone on the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. In 1979, he began his law practice at the Washington office of the firm of O'Melveny and Myers, before leaving to become an Assistant to the US Solicitor General. There, he argued the first five cases of his career before the US Supreme Court. In 1983, George became an associate at the law firm of Sidley Austin, became a partner in 1988, and remained at Sidley until his retirement in 2018. During this time, he was active in the DC Bar, serving as General Counsel, on the Board of Governors, and on the Bar's Legal Ethics Committee, and finally as DC Bar President. He also served on the ABA Legal Ethics Committee for several terms. George was passionate about the practice of law, and was especially interested in ethics and diversity issues at his firm, and also on a city-wide committee formed for minority partners in majority firms, where he served as vice-chair and secretary with Vernon Jordan. He was a member of several other bar associations, including the Women's Bar Association and the Washington Bar Association.
A family celebration of his life will be held at the Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home on May 13, 2023 at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, George's family would be very pleased with donations to the ALS Society, which was very helpful during his long illness.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hinesrinaldifuneralhome.com for the Jones family.
