HAMPSTEAD — Ed was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was preceded in death by his parents: Edward Odell Jones Sr. and Anne Lemrise Jones, brothers Doug Jones and John Jones, sister Judy Clark.
Surviving family: wife Brenda Jones, son Brian Jones and wife Crystal, grandson Gavin Jones, sister Debbie Miller (John), many special nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and his fur babies Soxy and Sam. He also fell in love with the newest member of the family: Gavin’s girlfriend Leah Cauble.
Ed loved nothing more than spending time with his best friend and wife, Brenda. For over 50 years they created many special bonds, moments and somehow their love grew stronger each year. One of the proudest moments in his life was in 1978 when he and Brenda welcomed his “mini-me” Brian into the world. From the moment he was born, they shared a passion for sports, cooking and laughter. He was able to create a special bond with his daughter-in-law, Crystal, that quickly dropped the “in-law” and became his daughter over 25 years ago. Our family always knew how much Ed loved us, until 1999 when Gavin was born. Overnight, his new mission was to make sure his new side-kick could do no wrong. He quickly became “Papa Ed” and “Uncle Ed” to everyone around.
Ed and Brenda were very proud members of Topsail Presbyterian Church in Hampstead. He was known to be the hardest worker in any room he was ever in and he was proud of it. Ed had an immense passion for everything he did, especially for life, family, God, all Boston and Duke sports and everyone around him. His love for cooking originated with the family restaurant, Jones’ Seafood in Oak Island, that led to many more of his own. His favorite thing to do was cooking and providing food for his family and others. We always said it was Ed’s love language. He started his favorite tradition of attending the Masters over 40 years ago that created many memories and fun with so many family members and many special friends that Brian and Gavin grew to be a part of. That led to the “three generations” attending almost every sports event and concert together. He was always most proud of his family and constantly put himself last to ensure his family was well taken care of.
We were so proud to share Ed with so many, but to us four, he was our patriarch, leader and protector. We will always greatly miss our best friend, husband, dad and papa, but heaven and Augusta’s 16th green will gain the sweetest and best cooking angel to look over us.
PS: Sometimes he had an opinion on politics!
In lieu of flowers, Ed has asked to please make donations to the Jimmy V. Foundation for Cancer Research.
