Mr. Robert "Bob" Ross Jones, 85, of Southern Pines, North Carolina entered into eternal rest on Tuesday, December 24, 2024. 

Robert Ross Jones opened the door and held it for many a souls throughout his life. I GOT IT! Those three words are what he’d exclaim with the utmost sincerity and purpose, whether it was the  simple act of opening a door for a loved one or stranger or an errand that needed doing for family, friend or neighbor. This most kindest of men began life on February 3rd, 1939 at Harlem Hospital. First son to Sherman Ross Jones and Lucille Aspinall. Later a big brother to sister Sedra Jones Alston and brother Ralph Kenneth Jones. Sherman, a wise and gentle man  himself of Afro-Native American ancestry from the Dakota Nation that dwelled along Connecticut’s Naugatuck River, sadly became a single parent after the passing of his beloved Lucille. Raising
three young children on his own whilst working the night shift for the US Postal Service took its toll. Sherman was no stranger to tough and meager living conditions having been raised first in a teepee and later in a cabin. He more than managed to give Robert and his two siblings a blessed life full of love with frequent trips to Delaware for family reunions where crabs and laughs were
served aplenty. There would be subway rides downtown to catch the theater production of Peter Pan or other Broadway plays. Back home in the Bronx, near their home at 1314 Stebbins Avenue, he’d bring them fishing at a pond in Crotona Park with home made fishing nets cut from window screens enabling each with multiple catches—no bait! When Robert and his siblings were not hauling in the day’s catch, he and his loving sister Sedra would race downhill in fierce competitions on steel wheeled Chicago Racer skates at full speed into cross traffic—no breaks. A  talented musician and clarinetist that played in a jazz big bands with his Delaware kin, Sherman introduced all three of his children to the world of jazz and classical music. Robert, or Bobby as he was called by family and friends, began nurturing his piano skills at age 11 studying with Mr. Hugo Borne. He would gift his musical talents whenever asked, playing for family and friends 
throughout his entire life. Bobby and his siblings would trek to P.S. 54 in the Bronx sometimes in worn out shoes stuffed with cardboard—like all parents of his generation, it was uphill both ways to and from school! After grammar school he went on to Junior High School 40 and later the infamous Morris High School sharing time & knowledge there with the likes Colin Powell and other notable alumni. 

Robert Ross Jones Obituary
Friday January 3, 2025

On November 20, 1959, Robert Ross Jones enlisted into the United States Air Force serving on bases in East Germany and Okinawa, Japan. In Japan, when not at the dojo intensively training in Shotokan Karate to acquire his brown belt in 9 months, he began a love affair with photography. He bought himself a top end Minolta SLR camera and would shoot photos of the world around him and eventually his beautiful wife. We can look through his eyes and see some of those photos today.

After leaving active duty on June 1st of 1961, the negroid (as deemed then by the USAF) became a member of the esteemed HBCU community and enrolled at Howard University. GO BISONS! He concentrated on his studies and pledged with Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in his freshman year. At Howard the stars aligned one day and Bobby ran into Helen Mizell and her best girl friend Norma Weston. The two had driven down from NYC for a dorm party and other escapades. Bobby only studied at Howard for one year and went on to finish his undergraduate studies at The City University of New York. The allure of Miss Mizell was unyielding, causing him to retreat from the nations capital back to the Big Apple and start a life long bond with an amazing woman. That bond was made official in November of 1964 and the young couple began the first chapter of their lives in Brooklyn, NY. The real fun began on a snowy day in June when they welcomed their first born, a violet-eyed boy they named David Marq Jones. Bobby and Helen shared their days with family and friends playing cards, dancing and going to hear live music. In between the fun and the work their family grew. They welcomed their second born, a daughter, Tracey Lynn Jones in February of 1969. After a few years, the hard working, nurturing couple left the 1 bedroom apartment in  Crown Heights and moved to a luxury 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a terrace in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

It was there they welcomed another member to the family Lisa. A 120 lb. fluffy St. Bernard that turned heads whenever David took her for a walks with his skateboard and used her as a sled dog. More heads turned on the 4th of July, 1995 when Tracey gave birth to Bobby and Helen’s only grandchild, Brianna. Robert’s Honorable Discharge from the USAF came on November 19, 1965.  Early in his career he worked as a Dental Practitioner and a NYC taxi driver. Additionally, he was a part owner of a daycare center, two restaurants in Harlem, USA and a part owner of a fish fry in Crown Heights, Brooklyn where his children reside today. Eventually he began his 30 year professional career with the NYC MTA, first as a Conductor and then as a Motorman responsible for  ferrying the lives of thousands each day. Finally retiring as a business analyst.

Working the night shift (like his own father) so he could be at home in the afternoon to welcome his two kids home from school insuring that they were fed and did their homework assignments  without watching TV or the idiot box as his wife called it. He continued his studies, attending the New York Institute of Technology for his masters that lead him to a position in the administrative
division and eventually became an instructor before retiring from the MTA in 2001.

A skilled and ardent athlete, Bobby excelled at baseball, playing for his high school team and running track as well. Other days when not in school he played pick up basketball games against the likes of Lew Alcinder (better known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and Dr. J. Julius Erving. Yes, he could he dunk! Several times describing how he’d get scars on his wrists from hitting the basketball rim too hard whilst doing said dunks. Ultimately track and field was his passion! As a sprinter and hurdler Bobby won multiple medals (mostly gold) in both individual and relay races for his high  school and college track & field teams. After hanging up his own spikes he coached runners at all levels. One of his most prideful chapters of his life was coaching a renowned all girls track team from Brooklyn called the Flashettes with two other coach friends. These athletes became world class on and off the track, the team spawned a few future Olympians and even his own daughter  was a Colgate Woman’s Games 1st place winning high jumper—more evidence that the family had hops! The boy that inserted cardboard into his shoes to fix the holes would become the man  that bought training shoes and spikes for his team with his own money. The Flashettes became an incubator for the girls creating life long bonds that became the closest of extended family. Years  after the Flashettes he would he go own to coach at the college level at Hunter College and later Long Island University still working full time with the MTA.

As noted earlier, Bobby was hooked on fishing from an early age. Yes, a strategically placed “dad joke” that he would have loved. His ancestors dwelled along the Naugatuck River, a name  derived from an Algonquian term meaning “lone tree by the fishing place.” It was in his blood! He enjoyed many of his retirement years with his fishing buddies going on boat trips and winning multiple trophies for his catches. Sometimes he’d rekindle friendly competitions at Myrtle Beach with his sister Sedra and her husband Bill but with actual fishing rods—no homemade nets!

For the second chapter of their lives together, Bobby and Helen relocated to Southern Pines, NC for their retirements. In this new beautiful home, their precious granddaughter Brianna spent her  summers. There she was able to absorb their love, care and knowledge from the tender age of 6 to become the exemplary adult she is now. His wife Helen, who passed in 2009, became quite the home decorator making friends everywhere she shopped, while he spent his days cooking new recipes, baking his famous cheesecakes, picking up brushes to do his landscape  paintings or attacking the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.

They took great pride in becoming home owners and were welcomed into the community by his new fishing buddies, knitting circles for Helen, a multitude of close neighbors and members of the  First Missionary Baptist Church where he’d often play piano on Sundays with the choir & his sister Sedra as recently as 2 weeks ago! During his 80th birthday celebration witnessed by dozens of  close friends and family he got down on both knees and proposed to Janice Walden. A loving friend and partner with whom he shared his final years. Back to the music. He loved it! The sounds of Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Nancy Wilson, Whitney Houston, and other jazz immortals filled his home, often competing with the ever-present hum of the TV. He would reminisce about his Jazz  club days in the 1950s and ‘60s, hanging with his crew. Versions of his favorite standard “Lullaby of Birdland” would be played by him on his piano or other of his favorite artists all the time.

Like his father before him, he shared his love for music with his own children. David was gifted an heirloom alto saxophone, passed down from the Delaware kin his grandfather had played music  with in the 1930s. Tracey, too, followed in her father’s footsteps, studying the clarinet. He played a recital at Carnegie Hall during his high school years, and he and his father would perform four- handed piano compositions for their grandchildren at family gatherings. For his 85th birthday celebration, held at his children’s home in Brooklyn, he jammed with a jazz band for the first time in  decades, playing his favorite standard. It was one of the most magical evenings of his and their lives—an unforgettable night of music, joy, and love.

Like Bobby, music heals, music inspires and music is the ultimate bonding agent for community and family. It is the gift of life—as was he. Play on Bobby, Play on!

Robert Jones’ Viewing/Funeral Service

Time: Jan 3, 2025 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Click The Link Below To Join The Zoom Meeting:

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/84059959905?pwd=alE7hbek16Fhd9bObXNaqmmrTblk4s.1

Meeting ID: 840 5995 9905

Passcode: 052971

Please keep the family and friends of Mr. Robert "Bob" Ross Jones in your thoughts and prayers. 

Arrangements are entrusted to McLeod Funeral Home of Southern Pines, North Carolina.