The Rev. William (“Bill”) Wayne Jones, 84, formerly of Franklin, died Sunday, June 15, 2014, at his home in Durham, North Carolina.
William was born on November 3, 1929 in Sharon, Pennsylvania, the elder child of Anthony Wayne Jones and Margaret Aebi Jones. His brother, Donald Alan Jones, was born in 1934. Bill grew up in Franklin, PA., attending Franklin High School and excelling in scouting, music, oratory, debating, and academics. In 1947 he received a Pennsylvania State Senatorial Scholarship to study at the University of Pennsylvania, from where he was graduated with a B. A. with Honors in History. He was the only non-Music major to play in the University String Quartet.
In 1951 Bill went to India as a missionary. There he met Beulah Kessop, and they were married in 1956. Bill received his Master of Divinity degree, and Beulah her Master in Religious Education degree, from Yale Divinity School in 1958. Their first child, Arun Wayne, was born that year, and they returned to India the next year to begin their ministry as Methodist missionaries, from which they retired in 1998. While they were in India they had three more children: a daughter, Sharon Anjali; a son, Kenneth Lalit; and a daughter, Nalini Lillian. One other daughter was stillborn in New Haven, Connecticut.
Bill served in a number of capacities in several locations in North India: as school teacher, district missionary, pastor, school administrator, church leadership trainer and historian, in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. His expertise in and love for music led him to direct choirs in all of the churches and schools that he served, as well as occasional performances with the symphony orchestras of Calcutta, Delhi, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an accomplished violinist.
In 1998 Bill and Beulah moved into retirement in Durham, North Carolina, and to faithful, active membership at Trinity United Methodist Church.
Bill was predeceased by his parents, Anthony Wayne Jones and Margaret Aebi Jones; a brother, Donald Alan Jones; and a grandchild, Roshni Antoinette Joseph. Surviving are his wife, Beulah Kessop Jones of Durham; two daughters, Sharon Anjali Jones of Durham and Nalini Lillian Joseph and husband, Jude A.B. Joseph, of Salisbury; two sons, Rev. Dr. Arun Wayne Jones and wife, Yolanda R. Jones, of Atlanta, GA, and Kenneth Lalit Jones and wife, Sunita Jones, of Durham; a friend, James D. Hamerlee and wife, Elizabeth S. Hammerlee, of Meadville, PA; and five grandchildren, Suresh Paolo Jones, Amihan Shireen Jones, Christopher Ashwin Jones, Daniel Avinash Jones and Rohan Anthony Joseph.
A memorial service was held on Saturday, June 28th at 1:00 P.M. in Trinity United Methodist Church officiated by Rev. Taylor Mills.
The family is being assisted by Clements Funeral Service, Inc., in Durham, N.C. Online condolences may be made at www.clementsfuneralservice.com.
