William Davis Jones III

Dave Jones, who for many years was responsible for labor relations with the traditional craft unions at The News and Observer and heralded by the newspaper for creating an atmosphere “that rendered unions unnecessary at the company”, died on Saturday, July 21, 2018. He was 91 years old.

Mr. Jones was a lifelong newspaperman. He began his career immediately after college as Editor of The Enfield Progress in Enfield, NC. He moved on to The Wilson Daily Times and, on his 23rd birthday, joined The News and Observer where he remained for 42 years, starting first as an advertising salesman, eventually serving as a member of the board of directors and completing his tenure as Associate Publisher. Following his retirement, he worked as a business consultant with expertise in family-owned newspapers and for 15 years served as an advisor to the publisher of The Wilson Daily Times. He facilitated the launch of The Mini Page created by Betty Debnam Hunt in 1965, which originated at The News and Observer and later became one of the most widely syndicated features in publishing history.

William Davis Jones III was born on November 24, 1926 in Biltmore, NC, to William Davis Jones, Jr. of San Angelo, TX, originally of the William Davis and Peter Fite Jones families of Virginia and Atlanta, and Ruth Catherine Culbreth of Falcon, NC, daughter of Julius Ainslie Culbreth, well-known and influential founder of the first Pentecostal Holiness movement in North Carolina and the Falcon Children’s Home. As a boy, Dave moved with his family from North Carolina to New Mexico then to Oregon and Kansas, ultimately settling in Raleigh in 1941. He spent many carefree summers in Falcon, NC with his maternal grandparents and cousins. He remained close to his paternal aunts and cousins.

His love of books and natural writing skills were recognized and supported by his parents throughout his formative years. He attended Needham Broughton High School and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1948. He volunteered for the United States Army immediately after high school graduation and served for seven months in the waning days of World War II, then served for two years during the Korean War when he was recalled in 1950. He fell in love with and married Susie Burnett of Burgaw, NC in 1953 after a six-month courtship, and they were married for 64 years.

During his lifetime, Mr. Jones was active in business, civic and cultural organizations. He served as president of the Chowan College Graphic Arts Foundation, the North Carolina Newspapers-in-Education Foundation, the North Carolina Press Foundation and the Raleigh Little Theatre. He was campaign chairman of the United Way of Wake County in 1977 and its president in 1982.

He was a member of the Board of Visitors of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Chapel Hill and was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1996, he received the Knight International Press Fellowship to work with the emerging free press in the Republic of Georgia following the break-up of the Soviet Union. He spoke often of the difficulty of explaining the concept of objective journalism to writers who had known only state-controlled media. He and Susie spent three months in the Republic of Georgia as ambassadors for the Knight Fellowship and a North Carolina cultural exchange.

He was a member of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church for 27 years prior to transferring to Christ Church in 1981.

Mr. Jones was predeceased by his parents, his sister, Nancy Colbern Jones Park, his daughter-in-law Karin March Jones, and his eldest son, William Davis Jones IV.

He is survived by his wife, Susie, and four children and their spouses: Ainslie and Robert Uhl of Raleigh, Annetta and Norfleet Hoggard of Raleigh, Adam and Susan Jones of Chapel Hill, and Della and David Fried of Atlanta. He is also survived by twelve grandchildren: Hart, Colbern, Everett and Henry Uhl; Culbreth Jones Ferla (Joe) and Deaton Jones; Frances and Edward Hoggard; Lilly and Ainslie Jones; and Benjamin and Joscelin James Fried.

A patriot and a poet, he loved and was loved.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, July 25 at 11:00 am at Christ Episcopal Church, 120 East Edenton St., Raleigh. The family will receive friends following the service in the church parish hall. A private interment will be held at Oakwood Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the UNC School of Media & Journalism - www.mj.unc.edu.com, or News in Education (NIE) - www.nie.newsobserver.com

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Saint Mary's St., Raleigh, NC.