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H. Shane Jones
( November 17, 1944 - July 1, 2020 )
DENVER, NC -- Born on the side of a West Virginia mountain on a cold November day just before the end of World War II, Shane Jones spent the next 75 years overcoming obstacles. He did this through an overwhelming desire to succeed in all he did – exemplified by a loving family that eventually included four grandchildren, a career that carried him from a Blue Ridge coal mining town to across the globe, and in the hundreds of friends and associates who simply knew him as Shane.

He carried that can-do spirit, coupled with his generosity, quick wit, and knowledge of numbers and people, with him until his final breath on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

Born Nov. 17, 1944, in Jenkinjones, W.Va., amidst the rolling hills and coal fields near Bluefield, W.Va., Shane was the fifth of six children born to Clyde and Verda Jones. He was named Harry S. Jones by his father, a coal miner, in honor of Harry S. Truman, the U.S. senator who became president six months later. When asked what the “S” stood for, Clyde chose “Shane” in honor of the title character from the western novel, one of the few books in their small West Virginia home. It’s fitting that Shane was the name people called him as he and the gunslinger shared similar beliefs in loyalty, hard work, fearlessness and never shirking one’s responsibilities.

After graduating from Bramwell (W.Va.) High School in 1962, Shane, over the next five years, hitchhiked each way from his West Virginia home to Bowling Green, Ky., where he attended Bowling Green College of Commerce and Western Kentucky University. Balancing a full schedule of classes and working “every job known on campus,” Shane graduated from WKU in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management.

It was during his time at WKU that Shane met Janice “Jan” White, a co-ed from the corn fields of western Kentucky. The two married on Aug. 4, 1968, and Shane and Jan remained devoted to one another for the next 51 years.

After graduating, Shane started his career in Louisville, Ky., with the accounting firm of Humphrey-Robinson. At the same time, he spent six years serving with the Kentucky Army National Guard.
After receiving his CPA certification, Shane joined Vermont American Corporation in 1970 where he served as manager of internal audits in their Louisville office. In 1986, he was named general manager of the Vermont American Tool Company Distribution Center in Lincolnton, NC, and he moved his family to their present home on Lake Norman. After Vermont American was purchased by the Bosch Group in 1989, Shane served as the director of distribution/packaging for the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation in Lincolnton, NC.

In his position, Shane traveled the globe. He was generous with his advice and with his mentoring. He recognized talents in people and invested in their career advancement and educational programs.

A longtime member of Denver United Methodist Church, Shane served on several leadership teams at the church over the past 35 years. He enjoyed boating, golfing, collecting and restoring classic cars, and University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball. He loved his Diet Pepsi, Lance Toasty peanut butter crackers, deviled eggs and Keebler Pecan Sandies cookies.

Yet, his real passion was in caring for his family, longtime friends, neighbors in the Westport Peninsula community and business associates. One of his most generous gifts was donating a kidney to his brother, Jerry.

Shane is survived by his wife, Janice “Jan” White Jones; a son, Darrell Shane Jones and his wife, Sandy, of Mooresville, NC, and their four children, Loralei, Micah, Tasman and Mireille Jones.
When Darrell was born in 1978, the song “You Light Up My Life” was popular and, ever since that day, Darrell was always the light in his father’s eyes. That light and love grew with the birth of each of his four grandchildren, who lovingly called Shane “Grumpy, but not in the grumpy sort of way.”

Other survivors include a sister, Columbia McDonough and her husband, Tom, of Tazewell, Va.; a brother, Allen Jones and his wife, Nancy, of Atlanta; a sister-in-law, Donna Jones, of Asheboro, NC; two brothers-in-law, David Baker, of Falls Mills, Va., and Jerry White and his wife, Elizabeth, of Morganfield, Ky.; and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to his mother and father, Shane was preceded in death by two brothers, Denver and Jerry Jones; a sister, Jane Baker; and his father- and mother-in-law, Barbee and Marie White.

A celebration of life service will be held at a later date.

Due to Shane’s condition in recent years, Jan and Darrell wish to bring awareness to the brain disorder Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH).  Memorial donations may be made to the Shane Jones NPH Awareness Fund, P. O Box 1411, Denver NC 28037 or Helping Hands, c/o: Denver United Methodist Church, 3910 Highway 16 North, P.O. Box 661, Denver, NC 28037.
Posted on 17 Jul 2020


 

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