Lt. Col. Lewis Maloy Jones, U.S. Army, Ret.

Lewis was born on August 11, 1941 in Jones County, Texas to Woodrow Wilson and Clariss Lillian Jones. He grew up in and around Haskell along with his five siblings. He was the first person in his family to earn a college degree.

Lewis first met the love of his life, Gail, in high school, although she would tell you she picked him out in the second grade. They were married on December 22, 1962 in Haskell. He was a distinguished military graduate from West Texas State University with a degree in Mathematics where he was President of his Kappa Alpha fraternity chapter. Upon graduation, Lewis accepted his commission in the United States Army.

Lewis served two tours in Vietnam as a Med-Evac pilot flying UH-1H helicopters (Huey’s). Among his honors, he earned the Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism while participating in Aerial Flight and was a Bronze Star Medal Recipient. After returning home from Vietnam, Lewis completed his Master’s Degree in Hospital Administration from Baylor University. He finished his 20 year Army career working as a Health Care Administrator at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and at Brooke Army Medical Center. After military retirement, Lewis completed his teacher certification and was a high school math teacher at Somerset ISD and later East Central ISD.

Lewis loved to fish. He was known to fish at the lake but his heart was in Port Aransas. Early mornings were a coveted time to meet the sunrise and enjoy time in the shallows fishing for speckled trout and redfish. He also loved to fish off the piers and jetties in Port Aransas for flounder, pompano and the occasional hammerhead shark. Ever patient, he taught his children to fish, digging out many a swallowed hook, rebaiting the lines and retying the tackle.

Lewis was also an accomplished handyman who was willing to try to fix anything. He always entertained Gail’s latest “vision” for their home and worked hard to accomplish the task to her high expectations. He was always available to family and friends for painting, wallpapering, restoration and building projects. Highlights include refinishing and restoring all of the antiques in their home, laying thousands of square feet of Saltillo tile, planting 1,000 baby pine trees on their Floresville property and building a garage with an upstairs apartment.

Lewis is survived by his wife of 55 years, Gail Ratliff Jones; three children, Leigh Cox and her husband Dale of Austin, Jay Jones and his wife Karen of Port Aransas, Jeff Jones and his wife Wendy of Houston; and Gail’s dog Scout . He is also survived by the smartest and most talented grandchildren ever, Tyler and his wife Danielle, Allison, Amy, Kyle, Haley, Colby, Clay, Wade and Angela.

A Military Funeral Service will be held on Monday, January 8, 2018 at 10:45 am at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio. A luncheon for family and friends will be held immediately afterwards.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lewy-Body Dementia Association (lbda.org) or the Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org) in Lewis’s honor.

Dad - we look forward to seeing you again. Know that we’ll be sure to “shut the door!” because we weren’t “born in a barn.” Also know that we’ll take good care of mom for you. You are so loved and will be missed but never forgotten.