V.L. \u201cPat\u201d Jones passed away March 21, 2011, just shy of his 98th birthday.<\/p>\n
Pat was born July 5, 1913. His grandparents came to Montana in a covered wagon in 1891 and settled in Helena before homesteading in the mountains north of Lincoln.<\/p>\n
Pat\u2019s mother, Leona Tuck Jones, and two of her siblings were small children in the wagon. Leona married William Earnest Jones and they homesteaded near Simms where Pat and his siblings were born. The children attended one room schools there and in Lincoln before the family moved to Helena. Pat\u2019s father was the first Fire Warden in Lincoln and one of the first hunting outfitters in the Lincoln Backcountry. As a teenager Pat and his lifelong friend, Sid Hendrix, explored the wilderness that later became the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wilderness Areas, traveling as far North as Big Salmon Lake. As a young man he worked on ranches near Lincoln, rode in local rodeos and began a lifelong love of horses. He made many packtrips into the Scapegoat and Bob Marshal Wilderness throughout his lifetime. <\/p>\n
Pat graduated from Helena High School in 1933 in the middle of the great depression. Pat met and married Mae Conn Robinson, a young widow, in 1939 in Helena. That same year he was clearing timber for the construction of Highway 200 over Rodger\u2019s Pass when he suffered a broken leg from a falling tree. He and his new bride traveled by train to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN where doctors were able to save his leg. <\/p>\n
Pat and Mae had two children, Leona and James. They owned and operated the Nu-Way Dry Cleaners on Last Chance Gulch until 1956 when they purchased the Log Cabin Motel, one of Helena\u2019s earliest motels. They expanded the motel and renamed it the Gold Pan Motel. Pat was active in the Chamber of Commerce and was an enthusiastic promoter of Helena. Having helped his widowed mother build a successful business and then owning his own, he learned the value of hard work, living modestly, saving and investing for the future. In 1973 they sold the motel and retired to the Helena Valley where Pat started raising Black Angus cattle. In later years he credited much of his longevity and good health to his hard work in stacking hay bales and feeding the cattle through the winter. <\/p>\n
Pat owned many horses throughout his life and his favorite pastime was taking children of all ages riding. He was an active member of the Helena Trail Riders for over 60 years. Pat was a member of the Helena Lodge #3 A.F. & A.M., the Scottish Rite Bodies and the Algeria Shrine. He celebrated his 90th birthday by riding a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and rode on his last pack trip at age 92. His good health allowed him to continue riding beyond his 95th birthday. <\/p>\n
Pat was preceded in death by Mae, his wife of 57 years; step-daughter, Frances Robinson Glenn Smith; step-son, Robert Robinson; brothers, Harold J. \u201cCasey\u201d Jones and Glen S. \u201cMick\u201d Jones of Helena; sister, Josephine Kunnary of Pocatello, ID; and step-grandson, Robert C. Robinson. He is survived by his daughter, Leona Whiting of Seattle, Washington; son, James Jones (Sody) of Billings; grandchildren, Matthew Jones of Bozeman, Aaron Jones and Steven Jones of Salt Lake City, Kevin Whiting of Denver, Douglas Whiting of Seattle, Randy Robinson of Longmont, CO and Shelley Wood of Gillette, WY, and thirteen great-grandchildren. Pat is also survived by his long time companion, Alice Anderson, who made Pat a part of her large, loving family in Helena. <\/p>\n
Cremation has taken place. A celebration of Pat\u2019s long and healthy life will be held in Helena on Sunday, May 29th, during the Memorial Day weekend. Time and location will be announced later. The family suggests memorials in Pat\u2019s name to Shriners Hospital for Children, or the Transportation Fund, both memorials are in C\/O Algeria Shrine P.O. Box 1174, Helena, MT 59624. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.aswfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/337288_profile_pic.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}