Obituary of Thomas Merville Jones

Thomas Merville Jones, husband, father, grandfather extraordinaire, educator, war hero, and annoying practical joker passed away peacefully in the company of his loving children in Hants Community Hospital on June 15, 2014 – Father's Day, quite appropriately. Born in Tabley, England in 1923 Tom moved to Nova Scotia with his family in 1925 where he was raised on a farm on the Bluff Road, Kings County.After lying about his age he enlisted in the RCAF at 17 during the Second World War and was trained as a Typhoon pilot. While he claimed to be an ace, the fact that he was shot down over Germany and taken as a prisoner of war would suggest otherwise. Tom and a fellow POW made a heroic escape from the prison camp a day after the war ended, which probably explained the bemused smile on the face of the armed guard as they fled. Arriving in France he immediately called his fiancee, who would become his wife of 69 years, to tell her he was alive and well. "Joan, Joan! It's Tom!" he shouted excitedly into the phone. "Tom who?" Joan asked. While Joan always claimed that she was confused after being awoken from a deep sleep, Tom playfully recounted the incident many times over the years to anyone who cared to listen. (Note to Canadian Armed Forces: for a man who is still listed as Killed in Action in 1945, he led a long and remarkably dynamic life. I think Mark Twain may have had something interesting to say about this situation). Following the war he returned to the farm and was soon joined by his new bride, Joan, who had apparently recalled who Tom was.He attended Acadia University where he graduated with a Masters Degree in Mathematics, often hitch-hiking between the farm and Wolfville to attend classes. Tom enjoyed a long and illustrious career as an educator serving in various capacities such as Principal of a secondary school in Quebec, Lecturer in Acadia University's School of Education, Executive Director of an experimental entity called Nova Scotia New Start which had a profound impact on both federal and provincial approaches to adult education and finally as Senior Executive Director, including a stint as Acting Deputy Minister, of Nova Scotia's vocational and technical training system.Tom's most profound legacy, however, was as a devoted husband, loving father of six children and entertaining grandfather of fourteen grandchildren. Tom was a loving, compassionate, nurturing man with a twisted sense of humour that he unfortunately passed on to his children. There were many occasions when Tom's name would be taken in vain by an unfortunate who turned on the kitchen faucet only to be blasted in the face by cold water spewing from the rinse hose taped open and carefully pointed toward his unsuspecting target. Following the victim's shocked scream, a familiar and annoying rasping chuckle would emanate from a distant part of the house. Wet dish cloth wars were known to spontaneously erupt in the household when Tom washed dishes and of course, who will ever forget frisbee games played in the dark of night with a black frisbee. Well, those of us with dislocated fingers will never forget, at least.Tom is survived by his wife, Joan (Sigsworth); his six children, David aka: Plantamus Doof, Heather Tupper aka: Doll Cheese, Ken aka: Kentamus Klute, Alan aka: Pee Scroy, Steve aka: Stench, Kate Goodwin aka: Bigley Squash; thirteen grandchildren, Kevin, Jennifer, Ann, Peter, Zack, Tristan, Ariana, Sam, Ben, Tara, Chiara, Julian, Ethan; twelve great-grandchildren. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his sister, Hazel Murphy and granddaughter, Krista Jones.As per Tom's wishes, there will be no formal funeral service. His family will celebrate his life privately – there may even be a wet dish cloth war. Arrangements have been entrusted to DeMont Family Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 419 Albert St., PO Box 981, Windsor, NS B0N 2T0 (902-798-8317). Messages of condolence may be sent to the family by visiting: www.demontfamilyfuneralhome.ca