Robert E. Jones and I were friends for more than 60 years and he was always Jonesy to me. I thought about those years when I viewed the gavel he used when he was Mayor of Danville. It was among the items his family and friends donated to the Vermilion County Museum. After he was elected to that position I suggested he might want to be addressed as Mr. Mayor, but he smiled and said Jonesy was still good.
We became acquainted in the Army Reserve in the early 1960s. That was when he ran a farm market he titled Country Corners. He would sell during the day and then spend most of the night hauling in fresh supplies.
At reserve meetings he was kidded about being almost a farmer.
He was a cook when on active duty in the army and he continued to do that during his years in the reserve. Unlike some in the army who had that title, he could actually cook. He took pride in the well-prepared meals his military kitchen produced.
One of his favorite stories from military summer camp involved grasshoppers and soup. Lunch was being served in the field in large open kettles where there was an abundance of grasshoppers present. A number of them ended up in the soup. It was not an appetizing sight as they swam madly about in the soup being ladled out. When there were complaints, Jonesy just smiled and informed the troops the hoppers added protein.
He continued to prepare excellent meals when he owned Colonial Parkway for many years. He had a steady clientele at his restaurant on East Main Street. They were not only customers, they also became his friends. Jonesy was a people person and he wore well.
When he became mayor in 1987, he was operating a new form of government in a city that had lost about 20 percent of its population in the past 20 years. It wasn’t an easy beginning for him, but he made it work. Change is constant he told me, you work with what you have. He also noted as to population, Danville was no different than other communities that were experiencing a loss in industrial production.
When I showed him the plans for a new museum building the Vermilion County Museum Society planned to build in Danville, he said, “We have to take care of Abe.” It was several years later the money was raised and the Museum Center that resembles the courthouse Lincoln practiced law in was built. During the construction of the building he stopped by often to see how it was going. The project’s architect, Bob Hible, noted Jonesy was a “common sense” mayor who worked well with people.
He had a big heart and was generous when it came to helping others. Sandy Lucas had a long career teaching at Cannon School in Danville. She recalled near the end of each school year he gave every student at Cannon a free ice cream cone from the Dairy Queen he ran on East Main Street. She noted when he was approached to assist the school he never refused. She said he donated numerous coupons over the years. She also remembered he was among the first to serve pizza in Danville when he operated Colonial Parkway. “He was just an all round good person,” she observed.
He accomplished many things during his life and one he was very proud of was bringing the Children’s Dyslexia Center to Danville. He was always a supporter of anything that would uplift youth in the community and was always willing to give those who needed it a second chance in life.
When his name was placed on the Wall of Fame at Danville High School he was very appreciative and told a News Gazette reporter, “High School was the best time of my life.” He was a modest person who let his deeds speak for him.
There was a reception for Jonesy at the city building in November last year to celebrate his 85th birthday that occurred in December. When Sue and I visited him at the reception he ended the conversation by recalling an event that occurred in 1962. Four young recruits were on their way north from Fort Leonard Wood when they were pulled over by a Missouri State Trooper. The car they were in fit the description of one the police were looking for.
The Trooper asked for the driver’s license which the driver couldn’t find. He thought he might have put it in the car’s glove compartment because he didn’t want to lose it at the base. A hurried search by the copilot in the vehicle did not find the license in the jumble of papers there, but he did find something. “Frey’s Tire,” he said excitedly, passing the driver a slip of paper. “It has his name and Danville, Illinois, on it. That’s just as good as a driver’s license,” he surmised. The trooper had three words for the recruits when he looked at the tire repair bill, “Not in Missouri.” The incident took a bite out of the recruits’ free time and Jonesy never forgot the story of the Frey’s Tire repair bill that was “just as good as a driver’s license.” He had a smile on his face when I shook hands with him and left the reception.
He passed away on February 6, 2024, completing a life well lived. Danville is a better place and countless people are better off because they were fortunate to have Robert E. Jones among them for all those years. He was and always will be Jonesy to me.