Caddo-Natchitoches County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....Jones, Ernest, Weldon May 9, 1943 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Evan Broussard evannjeannine@aol.com February 4, 2006, 7:47 pm Obit from May 10, 1943 front page of The Shreveport Times Supt. Weldon Jones Dies Early Sunday __________ __ Funeral at 3 p.m. Today; Parish Schools to Close For Day ________ E. Weldon Jones, 59, super- intendent of schools in Caddo Parish since 1926, died at 1:45 a.m., at his home at 917 Dalzell street, after an illness of several months. Dr. O.C. Rigsby, president of the Parish school board, announced Yesterday that all parish schools White and negro, public and private, would be closed today because of Mr. Jones’ death. Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. today at the First Baptist church and burial will be in Forest Park cemetery under the direction of the Osborn Funeral Home. In the absence of Dr. M.E. Dodd, the Rev. J.D. Grey pastor of the St. Charles Avenue church in New Orleans will officiate. The body will lie in state from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the church. Mr. Jones has been connected with The parish school system for more Than 30 years. Originally from Natchitoches, Mr. Jones first came to Shreveport as assistant superintend- ent of schools in 1910. In February of 1926 he succeeded the late C.E. Byrd, for whom the high school was named, as superintendent of schools a position which he held until his death. Dr. Rigsby, president of the school board, said yesterday, “Mr. Jones was a widely-known, and highly re- spected man. We on the school board will miss him greatly. He knew all the ropes and was one of the most (Continued On Page Twelve) SUPT. JONES DIES SUNDAY _______ (Continued From Page One) esteemed contributors to modern education. Always interested in agriculture, Mr. Jones established the 4-H club In the parish, one of the first of It’s kind in the state or nation. He Formed the first boys’ pig club in The United States and was instru- Mental in forming the first girls’ tomato canning club in the country. While serving as organizer of those Clubs, he made personal visits to many homes throughout the parish and worked in close co-operation with parish boys and girls – many of whom later taught in the parish schools under his supervision. Introduced Clover Here During the last war, Mr. Jones was responsible for bringing Dutch clover into Caddo parish. A large amount of seed was sent by the government into the parish for planting, but there was no one to plant it. When he realized this, Mr. Jones rode the back platform of the train from Shreveport to Gilliam. Dixie and Other parish communities and threw The seed along the side of the tracks. Because of his action, that section of the parish has been a great grower of clover as a plow-under fertilizer crop ever since. Born in Natchitoches on Feb. 25, 1884, Mr. Jones was the son of James Weldon and Annie Dobbs Jones. He received his early education in the elementary schools of that city, and was later graduated from Louisiana State Normal college. He also at- Tended the University of Arkansas, received a B.S. degree from Louisiana State University, and a Masters de- gree from Columbia university, Cen- tenary college conferred an honorary Doctor’s degree upon him in 1940. Served at Normal Mr. Jones served as principal of The grade school in Lafayette and later became a member of the faculty of the Louisiana Normal school, be- fore he came to Shreveport. Not overlooking the needs of the negro population, Mr. Jones planned, constructed and equipped modern agricultural schools in many sections of the parish . The Milam Street Training school for negros, where students of high school grades are taught trades, was a realization of his earlier planning. His plan for negro education is being copied in numerous sections of the South. Dr. Englehart, a building specialist in Columbia university , has conferred with him in writing many articles on modern city and rural school buildings which have been used throughout the United States. Active in Civic Work Mr. Jones was a member of the Board of directors of the First Bap- tist church, a member of the ad- visory board of the National Educa- tion association, chairman of the board of trusties of the teacher’s re- tirement system of Louisiana, a thirty-second degree Mason, a former chairman of the Shreveport Beautifi- cation foundation and a member of the Shreveport Rotary club. H.S. Jacks, principal of the Bossier City high school, said that although the Bossier parish schools were sep- arated from Caddo schools, Bossier parish school officials had long felt the help and co-operation of Mr. Jones. “He will be sorely missed,” Mr. Jacks said. Bossier parish schools will Not close today but they will observe a few moments silence during the day in honor of his memory. Active pallbearers will be: Hal Arthur, Lane Wilson, John Pabody, Sanders Fowler, Dr. Pierce Cline Henry O’Neal, G.C. Koffman and Wilbur Yearwood. Honorary pallbearers include: P.C. Rogers, H.C. Rogers, J.M. Miller, Sr. Elias Goldstein, W.J. Avery, A.P. Tugwell, Reuben Douglas, J.U. Gallo- way, Judge Joe Hamiter, Ensign Hardy O’Neal, members and employes of the parish school board, official per- sonnel of the parish courthouse, city officials, Centenary college faculty, members of the state board of educa- tion, officials of the state department of education, members of the Louis- iana State teachers’ retirement sys- tem, parish superintendents, directors and deacons of the First Baptist church and members of the Shreve- port Rotary club. Mr. Jones is survived by his widow: Mrs. Jenness Wise Jones. ________________ File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/caddo/obits/jones314gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/lafiles/ File size: 6.3 Kb