John M. Jones III, 101, longtime publisher of The Greeneville Sun and a major force in local economic development and civic life from the late 1940s to the late 1990s, died peacefully Tuesday afternoon surrounded by family.
A native of Sweetwater, Tenn., he joined the Sun in December 1945 following almost four years of service with the U.S. Army in World War II.
During that war Jones served as an intelligence officer under Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill in the 530th Composite Unit, popularly known as "Merrill's Marauders." The 3,000 man volunteer regiment operated behind Japanese lines in Burma from Feb. through Aug. 1944.
This was the first American ground force to fight in Asia during the war and afterwards it provided a modern model for the Army Rangers and Special Forces.
Jones received the Bronze Star and Soldier's Medal, leaving duty as a lieutenant colonel.
He joined the newspaper as assistant general manager at the request of his mother-in-law, the late Edith O'Keefe Susong, who was publisher of the Sun and its predecessor newspapers from 1916 until her death in 1974.
He and his wife, the former Arne Susong, bought a half-ownership in the newspaper and he succeeded Mrs. Susong as publisher at her death.
He has continued to hold that position, although, for health reasons, he has not been able to be active in the management of the Sun for more than 10 years.
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he played the key leadership role in expanding the family's newspaper interests to include community newspapers in several other East Tennessee towns, including Newport, Athens, Rogersville, Loudon/Lenoir City, and Sweetwater/Monroe County.
The company has in recent years become Jones Media, Inc., consisting of community daily newspapers in Greeneville, Maryville and Athens and non-daily newspapers in Newport, Rogersville, Lenoir City, Sweetwater, Dayton, and the High Country of western North Carolina, including Boone.
He also played a key role in the family's establishment in 1988 of The Business Journal of Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, usually known in the region as The Business Journal, which the company operated for several years. It was later sold.
A former president of the Tennessee Press Association, he was also a former board of directors member of what was then the American Newspaper Publishers Association (now the Newspaper Association of America).
He served three elected three-year terms, the maximum allowed, as a member of the Associated Press Board of Directors.
Jones was also an original member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and is widely regarded as the unofficial “father” of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
He was a long time member of St. James' Episcopal Church and a 1937 graduate of Washington & Lee University, receiving a B.A. degree in history.
Survivors include his wife, Martha Arnold Susong "Arne" Jones, to whom he was married on June 29, 1940; three sons, John M. Jones IV & wife, Helena, of Greeneville TN, Alex Jones of New York City and Charleston, SC, and Gregg K. Jones and wife, Katherine, of Greeneville; two daughters, Edith J. Floyd and husband, Stephen, of Atlanta, GA, and Sarah J. Harbison and husband, Steven, of Greeneville; several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by three brothers, O.K. Jones, Jr., Newton B. Jones and Jackson T. Jones.
The family will receive friends Friday, July 29, 2016, from 2 until 4 p.m. and from 6 until 8 p.m. at St. James' Episcopal Church. Funeral services will be held at the church at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 30, 2016 with the Rev. Chris Starr officiating.
Pallbearers are: Ralph Baldwin Jr., John E. Cash, Dale Long, Bruce Morrison, Joe Officer, Jerry Ottinger, David Popiel, Wayne Phillips and Artie Wehenkel.
Internment with full military honors will be in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Memorials made be made to St. James' Episcopal Church or Washington and Lee University.
A native of Sweetwater, Tenn., he joined the Sun in December 1945 following almost four years of service with the U.S. Army in World War II.
During that war Jones served as an intelligence officer under Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill in the 530th Composite Unit, popularly known as "Merrill's Marauders." The 3,000 man volunteer regiment operated behind Japanese lines in Burma from Feb. through Aug. 1944.
This was the first American ground force to fight in Asia during the war and afterwards it provided a modern model for the Army Rangers and Special Forces.
Jones received the Bronze Star and Soldier's Medal, leaving duty as a lieutenant colonel.
He joined the newspaper as assistant general manager at the request of his mother-in-law, the late Edith O'Keefe Susong, who was publisher of the Sun and its predecessor newspapers from 1916 until her death in 1974.
He and his wife, the former Arne Susong, bought a half-ownership in the newspaper and he succeeded Mrs. Susong as publisher at her death.
He has continued to hold that position, although, for health reasons, he has not been able to be active in the management of the Sun for more than 10 years.
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he played the key leadership role in expanding the family's newspaper interests to include community newspapers in several other East Tennessee towns, including Newport, Athens, Rogersville, Loudon/Lenoir City, and Sweetwater/Monroe County.
The company has in recent years become Jones Media, Inc., consisting of community daily newspapers in Greeneville, Maryville and Athens and non-daily newspapers in Newport, Rogersville, Lenoir City, Sweetwater, Dayton, and the High Country of western North Carolina, including Boone.
He also played a key role in the family's establishment in 1988 of The Business Journal of Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, usually known in the region as The Business Journal, which the company operated for several years. It was later sold.
A former president of the Tennessee Press Association, he was also a former board of directors member of what was then the American Newspaper Publishers Association (now the Newspaper Association of America).
He served three elected three-year terms, the maximum allowed, as a member of the Associated Press Board of Directors.
Jones was also an original member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and is widely regarded as the unofficial “father” of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
He was a long time member of St. James' Episcopal Church and a 1937 graduate of Washington & Lee University, receiving a B.A. degree in history.
Survivors include his wife, Martha Arnold Susong "Arne" Jones, to whom he was married on June 29, 1940; three sons, John M. Jones IV & wife, Helena, of Greeneville TN, Alex Jones of New York City and Charleston, SC, and Gregg K. Jones and wife, Katherine, of Greeneville; two daughters, Edith J. Floyd and husband, Stephen, of Atlanta, GA, and Sarah J. Harbison and husband, Steven, of Greeneville; several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by three brothers, O.K. Jones, Jr., Newton B. Jones and Jackson T. Jones.
The family will receive friends Friday, July 29, 2016, from 2 until 4 p.m. and from 6 until 8 p.m. at St. James' Episcopal Church. Funeral services will be held at the church at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 30, 2016 with the Rev. Chris Starr officiating.
Pallbearers are: Ralph Baldwin Jr., John E. Cash, Dale Long, Bruce Morrison, Joe Officer, Jerry Ottinger, David Popiel, Wayne Phillips and Artie Wehenkel.
Internment with full military honors will be in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Memorials made be made to St. James' Episcopal Church or Washington and Lee University.
John M. Jones III, 101, longtime publisher of The Greeneville Sun and a major force in local economic development and civic life from the late 1940s to the late 1990s, died peacefully Tuesday afternoon surrounded by family.
A native of Sweetwater, Tenn., he joined the Sun in December 1945 following almost four years of service with the U.S. Army in World War II.
During that war Jones served as an intelligence officer under Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill in the 530th Composite Unit, popularly known as "Merrill's Marauders." The 3,000 man volunteer regiment operated behind Japanese lines in Burma from Feb. through Aug. 1944.
This was the first American ground force to fight in Asia during the war and afterwards it provided a modern model for the Army Rangers and Special Forces.
Jones received the Bronze Star and Soldier's Medal, leaving duty as a lieutenant colonel.
He joined the newspaper as assistant general manager at the request of his mother-in-law, the late Edith O'Keefe Susong, who was publisher of the Sun and its predecessor newspapers from 1916 until her death in 1974.
He and his wife, the former Arne Susong, bought a half-ownership in the newspaper and he succeeded Mrs. Susong as publisher at her death.
He has continued to hold that position, although, for health reasons, he has not been able to be active in the management of the Sun for more than 10 years.
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he played the key leadership role in expanding the family's newspaper interests to include community newspapers in several other East Tennessee towns, including Newport, Athens, Rogersville, Loudon/Lenoir City, and Sweetwater/Monroe County.
The company has in recent years become Jones Media, Inc., consisting of community daily newspapers in Greeneville, Maryville and Athens and non-daily newspapers in Newport, Rogersville, Lenoir City, Sweetwater, Dayton, and the High Country of western North Carolina, including Boone.
He also played a key role in the family's establishment in 1988 of The Business Journal of Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, usually known in the region as The Business Journal, which the company operated for several years. It was later sold.
A former president of the Tennessee Press Association, he was also a former board of directors member of what was then the American Newspaper Publishers Association (now the Newspaper Association of America).
He served three elected three-year terms, the maximum allowed, as a member of the Associated Press Board of Directors.
Jones was also an original member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and is widely regarded as the unofficial “father” of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
He was a long time member of St. James' Episcopal Church and a 1937 graduate of Washington & Lee University, receiving a B.A. degree in history.
Survivors include his wife, Martha Arnold Susong "Arne" Jones, to whom he was married on June 29, 1940; three sons, John M. Jones IV & wife, Helena, of Greeneville TN, Alex Jones of New York City and Charleston, SC, and Gregg K. Jones and wife, Katherine, of Greeneville; two daughters, Edith J. Floyd and husband, Stephen, of Atlanta, GA, and Sarah J. Harbison and husband, Steven, of Greeneville; several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by three brothers, O.K. Jones, Jr., Newton B. Jones and Jackson T. Jones.
The family will receive friends Friday, July 29, 2016, from 2 until 4 p.m. and from 6 until 8 p.m. at St. James' Episcopal Church. Funeral services will be held at the church at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 30, 2016 with the Rev. Chris Starr officiating.
Pallbearers are: Ralph Baldwin Jr., John E. Cash, Dale Long, Bruce Morrison, Joe Officer, Jerry Ottinger, David Popiel, Wayne Phillips and Artie Wehenkel.
Internment with full military honors will be in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Memorials made be made to St. James' Episcopal Church or Washington and Lee University.
A native of Sweetwater, Tenn., he joined the Sun in December 1945 following almost four years of service with the U.S. Army in World War II.
During that war Jones served as an intelligence officer under Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill in the 530th Composite Unit, popularly known as "Merrill's Marauders." The 3,000 man volunteer regiment operated behind Japanese lines in Burma from Feb. through Aug. 1944.
This was the first American ground force to fight in Asia during the war and afterwards it provided a modern model for the Army Rangers and Special Forces.
Jones received the Bronze Star and Soldier's Medal, leaving duty as a lieutenant colonel.
He joined the newspaper as assistant general manager at the request of his mother-in-law, the late Edith O'Keefe Susong, who was publisher of the Sun and its predecessor newspapers from 1916 until her death in 1974.
He and his wife, the former Arne Susong, bought a half-ownership in the newspaper and he succeeded Mrs. Susong as publisher at her death.
He has continued to hold that position, although, for health reasons, he has not been able to be active in the management of the Sun for more than 10 years.
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he played the key leadership role in expanding the family's newspaper interests to include community newspapers in several other East Tennessee towns, including Newport, Athens, Rogersville, Loudon/Lenoir City, and Sweetwater/Monroe County.
The company has in recent years become Jones Media, Inc., consisting of community daily newspapers in Greeneville, Maryville and Athens and non-daily newspapers in Newport, Rogersville, Lenoir City, Sweetwater, Dayton, and the High Country of western North Carolina, including Boone.
He also played a key role in the family's establishment in 1988 of The Business Journal of Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, usually known in the region as The Business Journal, which the company operated for several years. It was later sold.
A former president of the Tennessee Press Association, he was also a former board of directors member of what was then the American Newspaper Publishers Association (now the Newspaper Association of America).
He served three elected three-year terms, the maximum allowed, as a member of the Associated Press Board of Directors.
Jones was also an original member of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and is widely regarded as the unofficial “father” of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
He was a long time member of St. James' Episcopal Church and a 1937 graduate of Washington & Lee University, receiving a B.A. degree in history.
Survivors include his wife, Martha Arnold Susong "Arne" Jones, to whom he was married on June 29, 1940; three sons, John M. Jones IV & wife, Helena, of Greeneville TN, Alex Jones of New York City and Charleston, SC, and Gregg K. Jones and wife, Katherine, of Greeneville; two daughters, Edith J. Floyd and husband, Stephen, of Atlanta, GA, and Sarah J. Harbison and husband, Steven, of Greeneville; several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by three brothers, O.K. Jones, Jr., Newton B. Jones and Jackson T. Jones.
The family will receive friends Friday, July 29, 2016, from 2 until 4 p.m. and from 6 until 8 p.m. at St. James' Episcopal Church. Funeral services will be held at the church at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 30, 2016 with the Rev. Chris Starr officiating.
Pallbearers are: Ralph Baldwin Jr., John E. Cash, Dale Long, Bruce Morrison, Joe Officer, Jerry Ottinger, David Popiel, Wayne Phillips and Artie Wehenkel.
Internment with full military honors will be in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Memorials made be made to St. James' Episcopal Church or Washington and Lee University.
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