Joseph Harold Jones, age 81, of Wolf Point, MT passed away at the Billings Clinic on October 4, 2014. He was born on October 12, 1932 in the Poplar Community Hospital. He was raised in the Brockton/Riverside community by his parents, William and Phoebe Fast Horse-Jones. He was the youngest of 13 siblings and is the last survivor of the Jones Family.
He married Alaida Suzanne B. Hopkins in December 1963. From this union, Henry, Dana, Phoebe, and Corrine were born. They made their home in Oswego, MT where he resided until his death.
Joe was an avid hunter and exceptional marksmen, where he earned the nickname “Deer hunter”. Other nicknames included “Casey Jones”, “Smoking Joe”, “Joe Bill” and “Cody”. He was an ace mechanic, and an ingenious engineer (we once witnessed him make a head-bolt heater out of a hot plate).
In his younger years, he was considered an excellent basketball player, mastering the “low-post” against well trained competition at the Glasgow Airbase and surrounding areas. He was physically strong and filled with raw talent and a very strong will. Many knee injuries put an abrupt end to his playing career, though basketball was always in his heart.
Although the Jones family has a strong Catholic background, they’ve learned how to inner-mesh their Native traditional ways. Joe had knowledge of traditional medicines and spoke fluent Sioux. He also took pride in his ¼ Assiniboine blood and his ¼ German blood. He came from a long line of German fur trappers and had German relatives along waterways stretching from Plentywood to Hinsdale.
He made his living working with heavy equipment on the BIA Roads Department. He always told stories of leveling the road on Callis Hill in Fort Kipp. He took pride in his ability to do a tapered grade. In his spare time, he loved attending powwows, political rallies, listening to powwow and country western music, watching boxing, baseball, basketball, football, and his grandson, Joey’s events. He loved the moments spent on his lawn mower, and his drives to see his relatives in the Brockton/Riverside area. He also spent as much time as he could with his children.
He is survived by his sons, Hank( Ivy)Buckles and Dana Sam(Melissa) Buckles; daughters, Phoebe(Rich) Blount and Corinne Jones; special grandson, Joey; other grandkids including, Tashina, Kaferi, Tristan, Daniel, Wendy, and Molly; and an enormous family of nephews, nieces, grandkids, great grandkids, great great grandkids from all over, to many to list. Joe was preceded in death by his brothers Frank, Earl, Steven, Ralph and Samson and his sisters Virginia War Club, Lucy Spotted Bird, Gladys Lewis, Jessie Walking Eagle, Bessie Melbourne, Alves Bird and Agnes White Hawk.
A prayer service will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 8 at the Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel of Wolf Point. A funeral service will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday, October 9 at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Wolf Point. Interment will follow at the Oswego Presbyterian Cemetery in Oswego, MT. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel of Wolf Point has been entrusted with the arrangements