Jesse David Jones

Some people called him “JD”; some called him “Dave”. It was appropriate that he was known by multiple names because he bestowed them by the score upon every creature he loved. Those gifted with Dave’s love knew it beyond doubt because he declared it vociferously. If you weren’t a part of his blood family and he loved you, he might try to adopt you. If you crossed one of Dave’s loved ones you were looking for trouble. His niece, Junie, said it right: “You don’t mess with anybody Dave loves.” Dave never met a stranger; he would invite everyone within earshot to a family wedding or birthday party.

Dave loved animals. He took particular joy in naming his own pets and renaming yours. Among Dave’s beloved pets were Rose, Beethoven, Rattler, Jimmy, Douglas, Bob, Wheezer, Winnie Mandela, Scotty, Southpark, Onique, El Chapo, Kitty O, The Flying Menendez Brothers, Tugnutt and Rollo. He loved music and had an eclectic taste, enjoying anything from George Jones to Taj Mahal; Frogman Henry to Santana; he passed along his love for music to several generations of Joneses. Dave loved attending the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and treasured the shows that his friend Mila Beth staged in Sweetwater. Dave would break into song at the drop of a hat and loved to sing to his granddaughter Audrey and great nephew Jesse.

Dave faced daunting physical problems over the last couple of years of his life but never lost his unique exuberance. As the surgeries mounted, he worked up a set list of songs to sing as he was wheeled into operating rooms. Special mention must be made of Lacy Van Zandt, who nursed Dave heroically through the surgeries. He thrived under her care and they became blood.

Dave was born January 13, 1946 in Sweetwater, Texas and graduated from Loraine High School in 1963. He was a proud veteran, having served in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany from 1964 to 1967. He attended Cisco Junior College & Arizona State University for a year, then worked for the Texas Highway Department and Texas State Water Board in Austin, Texas from 1969 to 1998. After he retired from the state, he lived for a year in Bertram with his nephew, Jay, then moved to Roscoe to take care of his father, Sam, and lived there for the last 25 years of his life.

Dave was preceded in death by sister Carolyn, mother Laura Mary, brother Clyde, and father Sam. Zelma Blanche Blancett, “Mommy Blanche”, his grandmother, owned a special place in his heart. Mommy Blanche mothered Dave when his parents were away for a year at a rehab facility in Gonzales with Carolyn, who had been stricken with polio.

He is survived by sons Sam, Dorian, and Jeffrey, daughters-in-law Irma, Michelle and Nicole, grandchildren Ashley, Sammy, Bradley, Viviana, Rowan, Audrey, Tory Bell, Dorian, Darius, Marcellus, David, great grandchild Rhea, nephews Jay, Carey and William, nieces Lacy, Paula, and Junie, former wife Lourdes, and great nephew and namesake Jesse.

Dave had a legion of friends, chief among them his lifelong mate Lance Hall, who stood by his mercurial friend through high times and low. “Big Frank” Biggers, Wrangler Little, Mila Beth Gibson, cousin Jimmy Sansom and his wife Faye were also close to Dave’s heart and he loved them all dearly. Jesse David Jones was an American original, eccentric, maddening at times, true blue, hilarious, and busting with life. We mourn our earthly loss, knowing that Heaven just got a helluva lot more fun.

A Memorial service will be held for Dave at the McCoy Funeral Home in Sweetwater, on Saturday, March 25, at 2:00pm.