John P. Jones
Dec 12,1929-Nov 26,2017
John Powell Jones, or JP as he was known to many, left us on November 26th, 2017.
John had many accomplishments; you might say he was a kind of renaissance man, but he wasn't one to brag. If you had just met him, you wouldn't know that this southern gentleman who loved working outdoors among the trees had reached the high altitudes of the atmosphere in service of our country and has descended to the depths of the oceans in search of ancient treasures.
As a 1953 graduate of the West Point Military Academy, John joined the U.S. Air Force, where he graduated number one in his class. He flew F86 and F100 fighter jets while stationed in Japan, and was a Special Weapons Instructor and Flight Test Pilot.
John then attended graduate school at Air Force Institute of Technology with a Masters in Electrical Engineering. John became Range Safety Officer at PAFB Missile Test Center, having had the responsibility for detonation of unmanned space vehicles if they went off course, including the Polaris, Minuteman and Thor.
John also served as Aide and Assistant to Major General L.I. Davis, Commander, AF Missile Test Center and DOD Recovery Forces.
John received the Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service. Eventually, John left the Air Force with the rank of Major.
As John joined industry, he served as IBM Space Systems Manager/Chief Of Staff of Operations and Plans.
John became part of the Real Eight Company during the 1960s. This legendary original organization of divers searched and dove for sunken treasure from the 1715 Spanish Fleet shipwrecked off the the east coast of Florida. Over time John became president of the Real Eight Corporation that displayed their treasure diving exploits at the Museum of Sunken Treasure in Cape Canaveral, FL., as well as the National Geographic Explorer's Hall in Washington, DC.
John loved animals, especially horses and dogs. An accomplished horse rider, he won many ribbons in horse-cutting competitions.
John joined the aerospace industry at Kennedy Space Center, becoming Chief Engineer in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, then Project Manager, going on to lead the Space Shuttle ground support program for PRC, a NASA contractor company. Eventually he retired as Site Manager from General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin in Cape Canaveral.
A soldier, a pilot, a diver, a cowboy, an engineer, but perhaps the truest of all his titles is a kind, genuine man who loved his family, his friends and his dog.
Farewell John, you will be greatly missed.
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"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds-
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."
-John Gillespie Magee Jr, ww2 Pilot