Joseph Duffy Jones

Joseph Duffy Jones, 90, died at Still Hopes on June 25th. Private committal will be in the First Presbyterian churchyard. The funeral service will be in First Presbyterian’s Smith Chapel on Monday, June 29th at 11:00 a.m., with visitation to follow in Jackson Hall. A livestream will be available at www.firstprescolumbia.org/live

Mr. Jones, son of Meryl Barnes Jones and Joseph Duffy Jones, was born on February 17, 1936 in Lodge, South Carolina. “Joe Duffy” attended elementary school in a one room school house in Lodge where his mother was his teacher. She “gave” him a D in math, after which they decided it was time to move to Walterboro.

He graduated from Walterboro High School in 1954 and was President of his Senior Class. In 1958, he graduated from The Citadel, where he was a member of the Summerall Guard, President of the Baptist Student Union, and a Distinguished Military Graduate.

Joe met Caroline Simons Mikell during college while working a summer job at Edisto Beach. They married on New Year’s Eve in 1959. They lived in 7 cities over the course of 33 years, beginning in Wichita, Kansas where he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, and then Lincoln, Nebraska. He served as a B-47 pilot with the Strategic Air Command, and “disappeared” for two weeks during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The majority of his career was as an executive with Sears Roebuck, the country’s largest retailer. When he retired in 1993, they moved home to South Carolina, and Joe served for 6 years as the President and CEO of Easter Seals of South Carolina in Columbia.

Joe was a member of Kiwanis and Rotary, but his most rewarding membership was that of the Church, where he served as a Deacon and Elder in Presbyterian churches in Mountain Brook, Alabama and Memphis, Tennessee, and as Elder Emeritus in Columbia. At First Presbyterian, Columbia, he enjoyed his Thursday morning prayer group, and served as Board Chairman of the Christian Counseling Center, and on the Board of Laurel Crest Retirement Center.

For the last 28 years, he and Caroline enjoyed spending their time on Edisto Island at the family home they built. Even in retirement, Joe liked to work, particularly on his tractor. As the father of 3 girls, he relished his time with his sons in law cutting trees, splitting firewood and picking up sticks.

“Papa” also loved his time with his family on the creek, where he was known as a speed demon tubing his grandchildren through the creeks. He and “Nana” enjoyed watching the sun set in their boat at the mouth of St. Pierre creek.

Joe was solid and steady, there for friends and family; he found joy in all things, even in adversity. He was quiet, thoughtful, kind and wise.

In addition to his parents and his wife of 66 years, he was predeceased by his infant sister Meryl Gail, and grandson Joseph Jones Moorman. He is survived by his daughters and their husbands, Kirsten Jones Moorman (John), Elizabeth Jones Beal (Michael) and Gail Jones Searcy (Steve), all of Columbia; and his grandchildren, John Heslep Moorman III (Haley), Pinkney Beal Henderson (Noah), Michael McNulty Beal, Jr., Caroline Simons Moorman, Joseph Duffy Beal, Patrick Noble Searcy (O’Neal), Elizabeth Jennings Searcy, Jones Taylor Searcy, and great grandson, Joseph Jones Moorman II; and his brothers in law, Isaac Jenkins Mikell, Jr. (Alicia) and Pinkney Venning Mikell (Laura).

The family would like to express our gratitude for the loving and compassionate care given to Joe by the Still Hopes Community and staff. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201; Still Hopes Residence Fund, P.O. Box 2959, West Columbia, SC 29171; or The Citadel Foundation Summerall Chapel Organ Fund, 171 Moultrie St., Charleston, SC 29409