William Ray Jones

July 24, 2024

The funeral service for William Ray Jones will be at noon, Friday, July 26, 2024, at Monticello (MS) Baptist Church, with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation is from 10 a.m. until the time of service. Riverwood Family is handling arrangements.

On July 23, William Ray Jones (Billy Ray), the loving husband of 71 years and father of two children, passed away at the age of 95. Billy Ray was born Nov. 11, 1928, to Elige Jones and Glovie Harger Jones, of Piave, Miss. He graduated from Century High School in Century, Fla., in June 1947. He then volunteered for 18 months of active duty in the United States Army. After separation from the military, Billy Ray went to work for St. Regis Paper Company in Cantonment, Fla., and then continued his education in accounting by attending night classes at Pensacola Junior College.

Billy Ray’s work was interrupted by the Korean War, when he was recalled to active duty in September 1950 and was assigned to the 101st Signal Battalion at Fort Gordon, Ga. He departed Fort Gordon for Korea in January 1951, with a temporary stop in Japan for training in the latest communications changes needed for Korean operations. Billy Ray then served in Korea starting in April 1951 until November of that same year. He was awarded three medals for his service in Korea – the Korean Service W/2 Battle Star, Japan Occupation, and the United Nations Korean Service Medal.

In 1952, Billy Ray married Marjorie Pierce and later that year, both of them made the greatest decision of their life by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

After returning to his job with St. Regis Paper Company, he received several promotions before transferring to the new Ferguson Mill being built at Monticello in June 1967 to help establish instructions and procedures for new employees. A few years later, Billy Ray was promoted to accounting assistant plant controller, a job he held until retirement in June 1988. He was credited with 40 years of total service with the company.

Billy Ray was involved with many other activities during his working years and retirement. He always wanted to do things to help other people. Beginning with his church work, he was a Sunday school teacher for ages 1 through high school. He served as deacon at First Baptist Church in Cantonment, Fla., and at Monticello Baptist in Monticello. He was a church treasurer and also served on many other special committees, including the new church building and later the annex building at Monticello. After retirement, he participated with a local group that built six Habitat for Humanity houses in Lawrence County. One of Billy Ray’s treasured activities was his dedicated work in Scouting. He earned his Eagle Award (Scouting’s highest rank) in 1945 and worked very closely with Scout troops in Cantonment and at Monticello. He was scoutmaster for the Monticello Troop for several years, taking time for summer camps, canoe trips, and camporees with the local troop. Several scouts under Billy Ray’s guidance earned their Eagle awards during his time as scoutmaster. Billy Ray also enjoyed spending time working with the Historical Society in his hometown of Century, Fla., building a model replica of the town for the local museum.

Survivors are his daughter, Nancy Christian, and son, Tim Jones. He was the proud grandfather of Jennifer Crosby (Randy), Drew Jones (Rina), Reed Jones (Kaitlin), and Rachel Jones; and great-grandfather of LynnLee Crosby and Maya and Mirela Jones.

Billy Ray was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie; his parents; sisters, Voncylle Ritchie and Margaret Lambeth; and brothers, Ken Jones and Elige Jones.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under Obituaries