Quincy Phelps Jones

Quincy Phelps Jones, age 42, of Nashville, TN, passed away at home on Wednesday, February 7. He was born Sept 22, 1981 in Jackson, TN to Shirley Phelps Jones and Larry Jones. Quincy attended the University School of Jackson, graduating in 1999 before attending the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering. He has resided in Nashville for 20 years.

One of Quincy’s most defining features was a lifelong curiosity and passion for learning. As a child, he spent hours taking apart electronics, engines, and computers and putting them back together to figure out how they worked. When he grew up, he leveraged that same earnest spirit of inquiry in his professional and personal endeavors.

In his final year at UT, he developed a software program to generate spec drawings for tilt-up construction applications and leveraged that into a career – first working for Jackson-based H&M Co. and Williams Steel, and eventually starting an independent software design and engineering firm, C4 Solutions, with his business partner, Barrett Gay. He cultivated an 18-year relationship with Burlison, TN-based Jay-Ton Concrete Construction Co. creating tilt-up panel drawings using their proprietary software.

One of his favorite projects at C4 was developing a virtual reality spray paint simulator and training aid for Jackson-based Colormatch, a task which required him to combine his skills in mechanical, software, and electrical engineering, and for which he received a U.S. Patent in February 2021 along with his collaborators.

Outside the office, Quincy was a robotics-enthusiast. He spent years designing, machining, and programming the Nomad, a robotic dog modeled after Boston Dynamic’s Spot.

He was always developing ideas to solve problems – from a robotic lawn mower to a digital golf swing analyzer– never to capitalize on them, but to make them open source and available to people who shared his passions. He was active in the Middle Tennessee Robotic Arts Society and was generous with his knowledge, exchanging robotic design and engineering processes with fellow members. He collaborated on ideas with makers around the world from Cambridge, MA, to Poland, to China, and beyond.

Quincy could be a man of contradictions. He was strong-willed but quiet, serious with a witty sense of humor, outwardly stoic but deeply caring. He had an overwhelming joy for life but was a curmudgeon when it came to traffic jams, Nashville’s lack of sidewalks, paper mail from the USPS, busy grocery stores, poorly written furniture assembly directions, mole tunnels in the lawn, seasonal allergies, clutter in his workshop, and most any other daily inefficiency.

He was a southerner with a distaste for cold weather, but snow skiing was one of his favorite hobbies. He avoided road trips at all cost, but his Tesla was his prized-possession. Quincy had a love-hate relationship with golf – he loved the game and his long-time foursome, but a bad round could ruin his day.

Ever logical and well-reasoned, Quincy was an advocate for doing things smarter, not harder. He would be pleased to know that ChatGPT was consulted to add AI-level clarity to these thoughts.

Quincy was ahead of the pack on trends like Bitcoin, autonomous driving vehicles, and artificial intelligence, buying in years before they became mainstream. At any given time, he could be found listening to all manner of podcasts and loved engaging in meaningful conversation and debate on almost any topic, easily transitioning from discussions about outer space and aeronautics, politics and current events, to sports. He was a fan of Vols football, NBA basketball, UFC, and Formula 1 racing. He was begrudgingly the commissioner of his NFL fantasy league for many years but will now pass the torch.

Quincy has a kind soul, absolutely devoted to his family. He showed his love with his actions, always dependable and supportive, except when it came to ping pong. He’d have liked everyone to know that he could destroy his wife in a ping pong match.

After more than 6 years together, Quincy married Sarah Filus Jones on June 12, 2021. Despite their deeply divergent view on naps (Quincy thought they were a waste of time), they managed to build a beautiful life together filled with caring and understanding, joy, laughter and always love.

They welcomed a son, Cameron Blaise, in November 2022. Quincy had never changed a diaper, but in no time, he blossomed into an amazing dad, active in every aspect of caregiving, master of bedtime, roughhousing extraordinaire, and giver of the best hugs. Quincy was so excited to watch Cameron grow, and his legacy will be kept alive every day through his son.

To his family, Quincy will be remembered as an ordinary hero, a person of integrity who had courage in his convictions and a beautiful heart. He will be dearly missed.

In addition to his wife and son, Quincy is survived by his parents, Larry Jones and Shirley Phelps Jones of Jackson, TN, his sister Querida Jones Maso de Moya (husband Raoul Maso de Moya) of Charlotte, NC, a half-brother, Larry Jones Jr. of Sturtevant, WI, two half-sisters, Sandra Jordan of Atoka, TN, and Sheila Stone of Oak Creek, WI, and in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and family too numerous to list but not forgotten.

A gathering of family & friends for Quincy will be held Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 660 Thompson Ln, Nashville, TN 37204, followed by a celebration of life at 1:00 PM. A private interment will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please honor Quincy by calling someone you love today to tell them how you feel.