| Graduation Year | Class of 1965 |
| Date of Passing | Jun 09, 2019 |
| About | For years it sat in the corner of his garage in California, the 1961 Austin Healey 3000 awaiting respectfully the renovation it long deserved. Finally retired in 2015, Dick Jones had the time and resources to realize the dream. “Don’t baby it,” he said, roaring through a vacated stretch of road near the oceanside hamlet of Manzanita, Oregon. Richard Carl Jones, AKA Dick and Rick Jones, passed away June 9, 2019 on the road to Lake Tahoe, just back from Kenya and Italy. He was 72 years old and hadn’t “babied it.” A beloved community member, Dick got things done with a robust sense of life. He was mostly a father, but took time to appreciate a good sip of Scotch and a puff on a Cuban cigar. Although he’d attended a batch of colleges, he left no doubt his heart was with the University of Washington Huskies. A native of Yakima, WA, born to Margaret and Carl Jones, he attended Gilbert Elementary School, Wilson Junior High and Eisenhower High, where he was a member of the fabled 1964 state champion football team. Talk about a self-made man: After high school, Dick joined the US Air Force, specializing in radar communications. The military obligation behind him, he parlayed credits at Yakima Valley College and Eastern Washington University into a degree in electrical engineering at the UDub. It was an important time for Dick as the day after his release from the Air Force he married Lisa Lindeman. With her support he moved to Los Angeles to work for Hughes Aircraft and get a masters degree at UCLA, as well as taking classes at USC. In 1977 son Scott was born in Los Angeles. Later that year his family moved north to Soquel, CA. Daughter AnnMarie was born in Santa Cruz, CA in 1983. Dick worked for various engineering companies in Scotts Valley, Palo Alto, Mountain View and Cupertino, CA. In 1992 he opened and operated Takeout Taxi, a food delivery service, in Santa Cruz for 17 years. In 2000 he worked with other Cabrillo College classmates to start CODA (Community of Digital Artists), a photography sharing and education group. In 2009 he sold Takeout Taxi and went to work for Pacific Plastics and Engineering (Cretex) in Soquel, CA as a program manager. In 2017 he and his wife moved to Manzanita, Oregon to live on the Oregon Coast and be near their grandchildren, Parker and Caroline. Their home was but a few miles from Cannon Beach, OR where they spent their honeymoon forty-seven years ago. Dick was preceded in death by his son David Carl and is survived by his wife of 47 years, Lisa, his son Scott Jones (Lauren Golden) of Portland, OR, his daughter AnnMarie of Kenya, Africa, his two grandchildren, his sister Nancy Frack of Kirkland, WA and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, cousins and brothers in law and sister-in-law, dear friends, and of course, his beloved Healy which was fully restored for that one final run. A Celebration of Life will be held Sept. 14 at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz, CA at 3 pm. Free parking available. Please bring your best memories of Dick (Rick) to share. More information will be available on the Legacy website in 2-3 weeks. Donations may be made to your favorite charity if desired. |
