Cecil Jones, 91, of Aberdeen, passed away Saturday, June 3, 2017, at Aberdeen Health & Rehab.

     His graveside committal service will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, June 10, 2017, at Riverside Memorial Park Cemetery in Aberdeen, with military rites being conducted by Sidney L. Smith American Legion Post #24 of Aberdeen.

     Schriver’s Memorial Mortuary & Crematory, 414 5th Avenue NW, Aberdeen, is in charge of arrangements.

     Visitation will be 5-7 p.m., Friday, at the mortuary.

     Cecil Jones was born on May 6, 1926, to Clif and Lucy (Colmer) Jones in Hobart, Oklahoma.  He was raised and worked on the family farm along with his four brothers and one sister until 1944, when he graduated from Gould High School in Gould, Oklahoma.

     Cecil served his country in the Philippines during World War II as a technician in the United States Army from December 27, 1944 until he was honorably discharged on November 11, 1946.  

     He then returned to Oklahoma and attended college at Oklahoma State, where he received a degree in Agricultural Education in December of 1954.

     Cecil met his future wife, Evelyn Agnes Ware, at Stillwater, Oklahoma, when they were both attending college.  They were married on May 21, 1955, in Stillwater.  The couple moved to Hemingford, Nebraska, where Cecil taught Veteran Agricultural Education.  In 1956, they moved to Martin, SD, where Cecil accepted a position with the Soil Conservation Service.  They moved to Aberdeen in 1974 and Cecil remained with the Soil Conservation Service, as the Area Conservationist in Pierre, SD, until his retirement in 1985.  Agricultural conservation was a life-long interest of Cecil’s after growing up in the dust bowl era in southwestern Oklahoma.

     Cecil will be missed by his three children:  Clifton Jones of Overland Park, KS, Patricia (Steve) Fix of Springfield, OR, and Bruce (Carol) Jones of Westport, SD.  He was loved by his four grandchildren:  Elizabeth (Peter) Sims, Jonathan Fix, Alex (Hope) Jones and Cecily (Christopher) Bauman.  He was a proud great-grandfather to Brielle and Katherine Sims, Hailey and Avery Jones, and Evelyn and Weston Bauman.  He will also be missed by his brother, Sterling (Glenna) Jones and his brother-in-law, Robert (Kathy) Ware.

     Cecil will be sorely missed by his grandson, Alex Jones.  He, along with Alex’s maternal grandfather, instilled a love of the land and farming in Alex.  Alex and his Grandpa talked daily about the weather, crops, cattle, and the market prices.

     He was preceded in death by his wife and three of his siblings.