Robert Lee "Bob" Jones' Obituary
Robert Lee Jones, “Bob” to friends and family, of Dublin, Ohio passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, December 9, 2023 at the age of 61 after a long illness.
Bob was born in Ruidoso, New Mexico to Vernon T. Jones and Beverly (Unger) Jones and raised in the western United States, including Idaho Falls, Idaho, Farmington and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Casper, Wyoming. As a child he developed a love for the outdoors and felt most at peace in nature, especially the mountain-to-desert landscapes.
As a teen, Bob frequently helped at his father’s fastener business which served the mining and hydro-electric dam industries in New Mexico and excelled at solving mechanical challenges. After completing his GED, he earned an Associate of Science degree from Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio. He then studied at The Ohio State University and received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. He considered pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering and took courses, working as a research assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering where he created custom mapping models for a publication he co-authored with his professor. He completed courses in computer programming at Columbus State Community College and Sinclair Community College. He became an expert in digital mapping and photogrammetry during his thirty-year career, easily making the transition from analog to digital mapping at Woolpert Consultants, Dayton Ohio, Michael Baker International, Beaver, Pennsylvania and M.A.N. Mapping, Columbus, Ohio.
Bob’s love and commitment to his family shaped his life, although his work required that he sometimes spend significant time away from them. He loved math puzzles, science and Steven King audiobooks, classic cars, building and flying remote controlled planes. He appreciated the beauty of the land as he digitized aerial photography. He made stunning contour maps, including one of Ohio’s Serpent Mound, which he gifted to his brother-in-law Paul Chaat Smith and sister-in-law Lynora Williams to memorialize their wedding at the site.
“Bob was generous, kind and funny,” Paul Chaat Smith, of Baltimore, Maryland recalled. “He was endlessly interested in the world. He loved oceans and deserts, amphibians and birds. In a family of introverts, often given to moodiness, I always knew my brother-in-law would be fully himself, no agenda or games. The straightest of shooters. I will miss him.” That sentiment is echoed by his friends and family.
Bob is survived by his wife of thirty-nine years Marti Chaatsmith and son Robert Parker C. Jones, both of Dublin, as well as his brothers and their families Jesse and Erin Jones (Oberlin, Ohio), Jim and Marie Jones (Farmington, New Mexico), Vernon Thomas Jones, Jr., Dave and Beth Jones (Farmington, New Mexico), Ken Jones, many nieces and nephews and extended family and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents and sister Debra Ann Holt, (Casper, Wyoming).
The family would like to thank the staff of the James Cancer Hospital, especially the James’ Hematology Oncology unit at The Ohio State University for their kind and gentle care in hundreds of visits during his six-year battle with leukemia.
At Bob’s request there were no services. The family invites memorial contributions to World Central Kitchen at www.worldcentralkitchen.org.
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