Bob F Jones passed peacefully on February 19, 2022 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois at the age of 95. He was a long-time resident of West Lafayette, Indiana, where he was a Professor of Agriculture Economics at Purdue University for thirty-two years. Family and friends remember him as a farmer, a dedicated public servant, a faithful member of First United Methodist Church, a lover of learning and travel, an enthusiastic storyteller around the dining-room table of the people and places he visited, a prayer-giver at holiday meals, a gameplayer, a sports fan of grandchildren and Purdue, a maker of pies and fudge and waffles.
Bob was a recognized state and national leader in agricultural and trade policy education, and authoring over 115 articles on agricultural, trade, and international development policy. He participated on teams sent to study and evaluate agriculture and international trade policies in Hungary, Iran, India, Japan, Liberia, Portugal, Taiwan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. He and his family spent two years (1967-1969) on the Purdue-Brazil project at the Federal University of Vicosa, where he served for a time as Chief of Party.
Bob served the State of Indiana in leadership positions in several capacities, including as Director of the Governor’s Select Advisory Commission for Primary and Secondary Education (1982-84), and as a leader in the Indiana Cooperative Extension Service. In 1996 he was recognized as a Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana’s highest honor awarded by the Governor to individuals rendering distinguished service to the State.
He married Mary Lou Stewart on June 17, 1951. They were married sixty-nine years, until her passing in 2020. Surviving are daughter Mary Elizabeth (Jones) Regan and husband John of Champaign, IL; daughter Marsha Ellen (Jones) Folta and husband Timothy of Mansfield, CT; and son Franklin Stewart Jones and wife Patty of Carlsbad, CA. Also surviving are brother Wayne Jones of Ottawa, KS; ten grandchildren: Bradley Vincent Folta, Joseph Timothy Folta, Mary Katherine (Regan) Davis, John William “Billy” Regan, Adam Stewart Folta, Anne Elizabeth Regan, Audrey Elizabeth Folta, Sara Ellen Regan, Claire Christine Jones, and Andrew Wyatt Jones; five greatgrandchildren: Madeline Louella Davis, Grey Patrick Folta, Emmett Patrick Davis, Wilder Jones Folta, John Andrew Regan; and many nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death were son Robert Carlton, sister Betty (Jones) White, and brothers Donald, Ralph, and Paul.
Bob was born on a farm on May 7, 1926 in Franklin County, Kansas, the oldest son of Deck Jones and Mary Ethyl Coppes. He graduated in 1944 from Ottawa High School, where he was active in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America Association, in which he was Kansas Vice President, awarded the State Farmer Degree, and one of five in Kansas to receive the American Farmer Degree that year. After farming for eleven years, he served two years in the U.S. Army, and then obtained degrees from Kansas State University (B.S. in 1959, Magna Cum Laude; M.S. in 1961) and Michigan State University (Ph.D. in 1964). In 1964 he moved to West Lafayette, IN to join the faculty at Purdue University in the Department of Agriculture Economics, where he was a Professor until his retirement in 1996, when he was designated Professor Emeritus. He was a committed servant at First United Methodist Church throughout his fifty-seven years in West Lafayette, and in retirement, was a volunteer tax preparer for people of moderate and low income.
The passing of Mary Lou accentuated the impact of Alzheimer’s Disease for Bob. The family is grateful for the care he received in his last years at Westminster Village in West Lafayette, and in the Green House at Clark-Lindsey Village in Urbana, IL.
Memorial contributions may be made to either First United Methodist Church (1700 W State St, West Lafayette, IN 47906; fumcwl.org) or Purdue’s Department of Agriculture Economics for memorial contributions in honor of Dr. Bob Jones (Please make donations payable to the Purdue Foundation and mail gifts to Purdue Foundation, P.O. Box 772401, Detroit, MI, 48277-2401 or online at: https://connect.purdue.edu/ imobobjones), where a fund has been established for graduate student travel. He was especially proud of his many students he taught and advised now in positions throughout the world. A memorial service will be planned for a later date for Bob and Mary Lou.
