Cmdr. Burton H. Jones USN

   Commander Burton Hathaway Jones, USN (Ret.), age 90, of 105 West Gale Street, Edenton, NC, died Friday, March 29, 2019, in Vidant Medical Center, Greenville, NC. He was well loved and respected by his family and friends and will be sorely missed.

   Born in Edenton on September 12, 1928, he was the son of the late John Meredith and Margaret Hathaway Jones. One of Edenton’s earliest Eagle Scouts, he was educated at Edenton High School, The McCallie Military Preparatory School in Chattanooga, TN, and was a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He retired from the US Navy in 1971 after spending 22 years in active service and 4 years in the Naval Reserve – a time spanning the Korean, Vietnam, and Cold Wars. An aviation logistics and supply specialist, he served four ships and numerous shore installations in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, and was a graduate of the US Navy Supply Corps School, The Department of Defense Logistics School, The Department of the Navy Management Accounting and Comptroller School, and the US Navy School of Military Justice. He was a founding member of the Outer Banks First Flight Chapter of The Military Officers Association of America.

   After retiring from the military, he became the owner and president of Artist Showcase Ltd., an art gallery in Virginia Beach, VA. He was an avid oil paint artist his adult life and was a conservator and restorer of fine art paintings and frames until his death. Additionally, Jones was a Real Estate Broker and a member of several Realtor trade organizations.

   A former president of the Nags Head Civic Association, he had served on the Town of Nags Head Board of Adjustments, the Nags Head Mayor’s Citizen’s Advisory Council, and the Board of Directors of the Friends of the East Carolina University Joyner Library. He was a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Edenton Historical Commission and the Edenton Historical Foundation, the Board of the James Iredell Association, the Edenton Rotary Club, and served as chairman of the Chowan County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for over 10 years. He was life member of the North Carolina Society of Mayflower Descendants, The Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors, and the North Carolina Huguenot Society. While at UNC-CH, he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and the Honorary Order of the Minotaur.

   Jones had served as a Vestryman and Junior Warden at St. Andrews By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Nags Head for many years and was currently a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Edenton.

   Surviving are his wife, Mary Rhea Spivey Jones; two daughters, Margaret Elizabeth Jones and Sarah Downing Jones and husband, Noel “Jackie” Blackmore; a son, Burton Walker Hathaway Jones and wife, Debra Elizabeth Jones, and grandsons, Reece Walker Jones and Jared Downing Jones, all of Wilmington, NC. Also surviving are Mary Rhea’s children, Virginia Gardner Waff, (husband Paul, deceased), of Edenton, Elizabeth Gardner Wood of Raleigh, and William B. Gardner, Jr. of Edenton; and grandchildren, Gardner Culpepper, Bill Wood, and Emma Gardner.

   A memorial service will be held Friday, April 5^th, at 11:00 a.m. in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and will be conducted by The Reverend Malone Gilliam. A private burial with military honors at Beaver Hill Cemetery will precede the service. Friends may join the family in the Parish Hall immediately following the church service.

   The family asks that in lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory be made either to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 548, Edenton, NC 27932, or to St. Andrews By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 445, Nags Head, NC 27959.

   Online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.