Tributes

Mr. David Russell Jones of Pal Road in Eastman, Georgia slipped quietly away from us on March 3, 2025. Mr. Jones was born in Telfair County, Georgia to the late Billie Lawson and Russell Carlton Jones on May 31, 1948. Mr. Jones grew up a farm boy in rural Dodge County, learning self-sufficiency and personal discipline at an early age. With certainty, his love and respect for nature grew from those formative years. While still a youth, he learned of his Creator and was baptized in Sugar Creek. He was a lifelong devotee to weight training, fitness, and well known as a formidable competitor in the sport of Olympic weightlifting. Mr. Jones was a member of the Class of 1966 at Dodge County High School. He attended Middle Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University, and earned advanced degrees from Valdosta State University. His many working years were spent in the Dodge County School system as an educator and administrator. For several years after formal retirement; he acted as Personal Fitness Trainer, sharing his acquired knowledge with his many clients. The man, affectionately known as “Daddy Dave”, was well known for his physical strength but was also a student and lover of history, an athlete, a man of few words with great depth, resolve, and character. Mr. Jones is survived by his wife, Connie Giddens Jones to whom he was a loyal husband of 45 years. He is also survived by his brother, Gary Lawson Jones of Cochran, Georgia; sister, Cathy Jones Everidge (David) of Vienna, Georgia; stepdaughter, Wendy Evans Rogers (Ken); stepson, David Wesley Evans of Eastman, Georgia; his five loving grandchildren, Nicholas Evans(Lauren) and great-grandson, Samuel Wesley Evans of New Albany, Indiana; grandson, Wyatt Evans (Meagan) of Huntsville, Alabama, Lance Rogers, Landon Rogers, Emmi Rogers all of Eastman, Georgia; sister-in-law Sandy Giddens Sanders; brother-in-law, Dennis Giddens(Carol) of Eastman, Georgia; sister-in-law, Denise Giddens Perez-Guerra(Tony) of Bella Vista, Arkansas; extended family; Janna, Sara, Jackson, and Braylyn Bennetts of Huntsville, Alabama; several nieces and a nephew; and his faithful pets Carmen, Chipper Jones and Mellie Rose. Private memorial services will be held at Hardy-Towns Funeral Home at a later date. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the non-profit organization Leave It Better at P.O. Box 819, Eastman, Georgia 31023. Hardy-Towns Funeral Home of Eastman is in charge of arrangements. www.hardy-towns.com

Tributes

David Russell Jones

May 31, 1948 - March 3, 2025