Robert Wray Jones
On October 8, 2020, Robert Wray Jones, 82, passed away after a brief illness.
He was a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and brother. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 58 years, Bernadette Malanosky Jones; his sons, Robert and his wife Erin, Thomas and his wife Tamara and Christopher and his wife Michelle; his grandchildren, Shane Jones, Lauren and her husband Adam Sullivan and Wray Jones; a great-grandson, Macklin; his sisters, Barbara Roupe and her husband James, Nancy Zrimm and Sandra Kandros and her husband Larry.
Bob was an avid outdoorsman and gardener. A lifelong resident of Washington County, he was raised in Buffalo Village, worked on his uncle’s Independence farm as a young man and eventually settled in West Middletown where he resided for the last 43 years. He was a proud veteran of the United States Air Force and served overseas in northern Japan during the Cold War. Stationed at a remote listening post on the island of Kyoto in 1957, he monitored the launch and orbits of the first artificial earth satellite, Russia’s Sputnik.
He taught his sons the importance of hard work, community and family. He gave much more than he asked, was quick to help a neighbor, pardoned without question and judged men by the firmness of their handshake and their word. In his later days he grew content watching his flowers grow, the birds in the apple tree and that big 10-point buck that came out of the pine woods, probably to pay his respects.
Friends and family will be received from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, October 11, in the Jerome A. Stefkovich Funeral Home Inc., 18 Campbell Street, Avella, PA 15312. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 9:15 a.m. Monday, October 12, in St. Michael Roman Catholic Church, 97 Highland Avenue, Avella, with Rev. Zachary A. Galiyas officiating.
Interment will be in National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Bridgeville.