Obituary of Ray Alfred Jones

Mr. Jones was born in Saint Maurice, LA. He joined the military in 1950 and served honorable in the Korean War with the US Army. He attended engineering schools and became a heavy machinery operator, and laid blacktop for airstrips in Korea. When he left the Army he received the Korean Service Medal and the UN Service Medal. He moved to New York and in 1959 joined the New York Fire Department, Company 252 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY. Mr. Jones also was an entrepreneur, investing in various ventures in Brooklyn and Staten Island. He served 28 years with NYFD, retiring from Ladder 153, Engine 254 with the rank of Lieutenant. He was awarded the NYFD Certificate of Merit in 1971 for his years of service. He was a member of the Uniformed Fire Officers' Association Local 854. Following retirement, he moved to Fort Lauderdale, where he worked part time as a court officer in the Broward County Court System for more than five years, when he retired in 2005. He moved to The Villages a year later. He was a member of the Afro-American Club and the 343 Memorial Club for the fallen firefighters of 9-11. He was quite a conversationalist, and a voracious reader. He read everything from politics to religious tomes. His favorite was politics, and he could hold discourses for hour on the state of the union and the world. Survivors include his wife, Dolores; daughter, Susan Diane White; son, Ray A. Jones, Jr.; brother, Benjamin Jones, and his five grandchildren, Andre, Mariama, Micah, Naomi, and Ray III.