Robert "Bob" Meaders Jones
1942-2020
Bob recently lost a three-year battle with ALS. Until the end, he remained as upbeat as possible, and insisted on making an attempt to laugh in the face of death with his faith in place and God on his side.
Bob was born to Harold Meaders & Catherine Mae Jones on September 1, 1942. He graduated from Pauls Valley High School in 1960, spent a year at Colorado School of Mines, missed his girlfriend terribly, and came back to Oklahoma to attend OU. He stumbled out of OU in 1960, got engaged and married the love of his life, Ann Welch on his birthday in 1961. He moved back to Pauls Valley and spent the next four years in the insurance business, learning how to hunt and fish.
Ann and Bob eventually moved to Norman, and Bob went to work in the financial services industry. Bob continued to expand his hunting and fishing horizons. He often referred to himself as "a jack of all trades, master of none."
Bob spent the next forty years in the securities industry, pricing municipal bond issues. He took great pride in helping ensure the best pricing available for issuers such as the State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, Grand River Dam Authority, OMPA, and many others. All told he priced billions of dollars of bond issues, always trying to beat a few basis points out of the "New Yorkers". Though his efforts that went largely unrecognized, he saved the citizens of Oklahoma millions of dollars in interest costs. Upon his death, after being a lifelong student of finance, he said jokingly that he never really understood where the federal reserve got their money.
In between bond deals, Bob continued to enjoy the great outdoors. He loved to play golf. For "a hacker from Pauls Valley, he got to play some pretty good tracks." He had many good friends he played courses with all over the US, from Seminole in Florida to Olympic Club in San Francisco, to Medina in Chicago. Many of his playing partners were people in the business. In his words, "…I truly enjoyed and appreciated a lot of the people I work 'with'…not 'for'…."
His travels on hunting, fishing or golf trips took him from Hawaii, Argentina, Alaska, Canada, Costa Rica and many other exciting places. His favorite fish to target was Northern Pike. He was also quite content to fish in a small farm pond.
Bob was first and foremost a family man. He loved his wife Ann, and his children, Greg and Kristin. His favorite joy was travelling with his wife to Hawaii and their many trips to the mountains. He was a very proud Grandfather, and took great pride in the accomplishments of his grandson Thomas, and granddaughter Allison. He spent many hours rolling around on the floor with them having fun when they were young, and enjoyed their intense competitions as they matured.
He spent many hours as a young parent teaching Greg & Kristin and their neighborhood friends how to water-ski. He would drag kids around Lake Thunderbird or Arbuckle until he had a three-day crick in his neck from looking backwards. We had many wonderful weekends at the lake with family and good friends. Those were truly Bob's halcyon days.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Catherine Mae and Harold Meaders Jones, granddaughter Lucy Fjelland Jones, nephew Clayton Lee Bettes and Melissa Shelton Burget.
He is survived by his wife of fifty-nine years, Ann Welch Jones, their son, Greg Jones and wife Karen Jones, granddaughter Allison Jech and her husband Aaron, grandson Thomas Jones; daughter Kristin Jones Shea and her husband, Marc Shea; Bob's brother David Jones and wife Wilma Jones, niece Catherine Hayden and husband Timothy Hayden and their sons, Sam and Ben Hayden.
In Bob's words, "I want to thank the people who took the time and trouble to stay in touch with me through this difficult period. You know who you are, and I'm truly humbled by your friendship."
In the end, Bob wasn't sure if the quail in Oklahoma would play out first or he would. He said it looks like a tie.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ALS Association at www.als.org , or a charity of your choice.
Due to COVID-19, there will be a small private family memorial ceremony that we live stream at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, October 3, 2020. To watch the service CLICK HERE to go to our YouTube page. Click on 'Videos', then 'Live Streams'.
Per Bob's wishes, a larger celebration of life will be planned at a later date.
Bob's Service