Thomas W. Jones

Thomas W. Jones, 92, a long-term resident of Forty Fort and recent resident of Gateway Apartments in Edwardsville passed away Saturday at Riverstreet Manor.

Born December 15, 1918 he was a son of the late John W. and Edith Smith Jones of Nanticoke.

Mr. Jones was a 1938 graduate of Nanticoke High School.

An Army veteran of World War II he earned a Purple Heart for wounds received while serving with the 80th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

Mr. Jones was a long-time employee of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania, serving as public relations coordinator for twenty-seven years prior to retirement in 1987.

Thomas was an active and energetic member of the First United Methodist Church of Wilkes-Barre.

For many years Tom volunteered much of his time on behalf of local mentally challenged and visually impaired persons. He helped organize The Relatives and Friends of White Haven Center during the early 1970s and remained active and involved with the center and its guests until very recently. Tom was a past-president and Board Member Emeritus of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind with more than thirty-six years of service. He was also formerly active with the Wilkes-Barre YMCA where he was co-chair of the 1962 membership campaign.

His wife, Marcia Engler Jones died in 1976. Brothers, Evan, David, William, John, Robert and Paul Jones also preceded him in death.

Tom will be missed by his only child, Carolyn Jane Jones, a resident of Pocono Hall at White Haven Center and several nieces and nephews.

Reverend James Wert will lead the Celebration of Thomas’s Life on Wednesday at 1 PM at McLaughlin’s, 142 South Washington Street in Wilkes-Barre. Private interment will be in Fern Knoll Burial Park in Dallas.

Visitation will be held at McLaughlin's on Wednesday from 12 to 1 PM

Memorial donations are preferred and may be made to the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind, or The Hickory Hall Recreation Fund at White Haven Center.

Permanent messages and memories can be shared with Thomas’s family at www.celebratehislife.com