Life and Legacy Service Held for Native Ashevillian
Asheville native and North Carolina State Senator Edward W. Jones, son of James Jones and the late Dorothy Jones departed this life peacefully on December 14, 2012.
Jones received his education through the public school systems of Asheville, and was a 1968 graduate of Lee Edwards High School. Upon graduation he entered the military, and served with US Army 82nd Airborne Division. After military duty, Jones joined the Buncombe County Sheriff Department as a Deputy Sheriff, and after training with the NC Justice Academy, joined the North Carolina Highway patrol in 1975.
Upon graduation from Western Piedmont Community College, Jones was promoted to 1st Sergeant, and served as a NC State Trooper until his retirement in 2000, after which he became Police Chief and Mayor for the town of Enfield, NC.
In 2005, Jones was appointed to serve Nash and Halifax counties in the NC House of Representative District-7. In 2007, he was appointed to the NC Senate District – 4 seat, serving Bertie, Gates, Chowan, Halifax, Hertfort, Northampton, and Perquimans Counties. To name a few, Jones was a member of: the Governor’s Crime Commission, NC Legislative Black Caucus, National Conference of Mayors, NC Black Mayor’s Assoc., and the National Legislative Caucus.
Locally, he served as a board member of the American Red Cross – F. E. Turnage Chapter in Rocky Mount, NC, and served as co-chair of the Study Committee on Poverty Elimination and Recovery for Northeastern, N. C. He was dedicated to the youth of his area by visiting the local schools, and a constant fixture at the senior citizen centers in his district.
More than all the accolades, Jones’s motto was: “It is not about the titles we possess; it’s about the job we do.”
He was a man of God and a family man to his wife of 35 years, Mary, daughters Alesha and Andrea, three grandchildren; 7 brothers and sisters, and a host of relatives and friends.
