Bob Jones was born April 6, 1939 in Salem, Ky. Moving to Indiana, he graduated from Evansville Central High School in 1957. During the summers of his high school years, he traveled the state of Indiana as a door-to-door salesman and traveled the entire country as a daredevil driver with The Tommy and Larry Holden Daredevil Revue. Bob joined the US Navy in 1957. Qualifying for an NROTC scholarship from the fleet, he was released to the inactive reserves in 1958 and sent to The Ohio State University where he graduated in 1962, commissioned Ensign, USN and married his childhood sweetheart, Barbara Ann Harris. After flight training in Pensacola, he was designated a Naval Aviator and helicopter pilot in 1964. During his 26 years in the Navy, Bob and Barb lived on both coasts, Atsugi, Japan, and Bob spent a year in Iran, as Commander of a Technical Assistance Field Team, training Iranians to maintain and fly Sikorsky H-3 helicopters.
During Viet Nam, he served as Officer-in Charge of the Big Mothers, flying Combat Search and Rescue in the Tonkin Gulf. He commanded the first fully-integrated operational Helicopter Mine Countermeasures squadron (HM-!4) flying RH-53Ds and eventually served as Commanding Officer, NAS Whiting Field, Milton, FL. He retired in 1987, having flown 6 different types of helicopters across the entire spectrum of naval rotary wing aviation. After retirement, Bob went to work for UNC Aviation Services, a small defense contracting company specializing in aviation maintenance and training, primarily for the services’ air training commands. As the company grew, to more than 4,000 employees, Bob was promoted to Vice President of Operations and oversaw programs ranging from Del Rio, Texas to Lakehurst, NJ, including maintenance of all jet and helicopter training aircraft in the Naval Air Training Command. Upon his second retirement in 1999, Bob immediately qualified as a tour guide at the National Museum of Naval Aviation where he led guided tours for more than 20 years. He also volunteered as an adult reading tutor with Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, served as a Guardian ad Litem and was a tour guide for the Pensacola Historical Society’s annual Halloween fund-raiser. He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Pensacola and devoted many volunteer hours in support of our local community. He loved fishing the local waters and was a member of the Hawg Hunters Bass Club and the Speckled Trout club. After the death of his beloved wife, Barbara, after 56 years of marriage, Bob met and married the second love of his life, Barbara Rushing. They enjoyed their life together, living between Azalea Trace in Pensacola in winter and the mountains of North Carolina in the summers.
Bob was predeceased by his wife, Barbara Harris Jones, his daughters Leta Sue Witcher and Angela Marie Jones and his son, Mitchell Robert Jones. He is survived by his grandson, Eric Mitchell Jones, Granddaughter Nicole Gene Witcher, Great Granddaughter, Arabella Marie Turner and his wife, Barbara Rushing Jones.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to First Presbyterian Church of Pensacola, 33 E Gregory St, Pensacola, FL 32502.
A graveside service for will be held on November 22, 2024 at Bayview Memorial Park at 1:00PM
