Robert G. Jones

Robert Gordon Jones, 82, formerly of Bellevue and Battle Creek, died Thursday, April 19, 2018 at his home near Ewing, Mo. He was born August 1, 1935 in Quincy, Ill. to the late Henry Edward Jones and Marjorie (Brown) Jones. The family moved to Battle Creek when he was younger.

He attended Urbandale School and graduated from Battle Creek Central in 1953. In 1954 he married Nancy Harrison at the Ceresco Baptist Church. They lived in Missouri for a period of time, where their oldest daughter was born. Upon returning to Battle Creek, he worked in the pressman’s trade in Battle Creek print shops and in the pressroom at the Battle Creek Enquirer.

There other three children were born while they were living in the Bedford area. In 1965 they moved to a farm near Bellevue. In 1968 he continued being a journeyman pressman and became publisher of the Bellevue Gazette. He was also a volunteer firefighter for the Bellevue Community Fire Department.

He continued his love of farming while carrying on his trade of pressman. He raised crops, made sorghum and always found time to fish, hunt, and make his trip to the Upper Peninsula for bear hunting (a tradition that started in the 1950s with his father and he carried on to share with his son).

After relocating to Missouri, he continued work as a pressman and retired from J.K. Creative in Quincy, Ill. It was time to farm some more, raise cattle and hunt and fish.

He is survived by his wife, Emily; his daughters, Debra Jo McDaniel of Crystal Beach, Fla., and Donna Postma of Aiken, S.C.; his son, Alan Lee (Lisa) Jones of Newton, Kan. Also surviving is his grandson, Tony Smitherman of Morristown, Tenn.; two granddaughters, Kyra Postma of Aiken, and Leigh M. Jones of Newton. He is also survived by the mother of his children, Nancy (Nan) Jones of Bellevue; his sister, Betty Lou (Roger) Bishop of Ewing; three stepsons and their families; and nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and his daughter, Denise Ann (Jones) Ratliff.

Services were held at Lewis Brothers Funeral Chapel in Palmyra, Mo. on Wednesday, April 25, 2018, with burial to follow at Providence Presbyterian Church Cemetery near Benbow. The cemetery adjoins the centennial farm, from his maternal family, which he has resided on the past several years.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Bellevue Fire Department.

The family is being served by Lewis Brothers Funeral Chapel.