TULALIP — Jerry Jones was the Babe Ruth of Indian baseball, a jack-of-all-trades and master of many, a man who loved a good joke and making people laugh.
And he particularly loved passing on his knowledge to students of all ages.
The Tulalip Tribes’ master carver died Saturday after being severely injured Friday in a traffic crash on I-5 near Smokey Point. The tribe will celebrate Jones’ life in public ceremonies tonight and Friday that are expected to draw up to 3,500 people.
"I don’t even know where to start" describing the lifelong Tulalip resident, tribal Chairman Herman Williams Jr. said Wednesday. "It was a pleasure and an honor to know him and work with him and for him. He was just a great man and a great teacher."
Over his 62 years, Jones was a father and grandfather, carpenter, welder, logging mechanic, boat builder, carver, aviation mechanic, commercial fisherman, baseball player, artisan and teacher.
In 1984, Washington tribes began preparing for the state centennial in 1989. For their contribution to the celebration, a handful of Indian tribes organized the "Paddle to Seattle" in an effort to renew interest in ocean canoes and their traditional canoe journeys.
Many Tulalips participated in that canoe journey, and decided to build their own seagoing canoe. Jones stepped up to lead the effort.
A boat builder who worked on fishing boats as well as Washington state ferries, Jones carved the tribe’s two canoes, Big Sister and Lil’ Sis, and built a third from cedar strips.
"The job he did on our canoes really stood out," Williams said. "When you put all those canoes together, the lines on ours were so beautiful and so perfect. People would stand around admiring ours and talking about it. Jerry became a teacher at that point, and began showing everybody how he used his tools. He just blossomed from there. He took great pride in it."
Jones traveled the Northwest helping other tribal carvers on their canoes. He was known from Oregon to Canada for his craftsmanship. He created hats, baskets, drums, wooden paddles, masks and bowls, and worked on totem poles.
"Being around that cedar as much as he was, Jerry became very spiritual. Maybe he didn’t even know it. There’s a lot of teachings and protocols that go along with being a canoe family. Jerry soaked that up like a sponge and taught it to all the Canoe Family generations. He blessed all our Canoe Family," Williams said.
"He was the Babe Ruth of Indian ball, back in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. The tribes had a team and played on a circuit. It was a way in the old days for the tribes to come together and enjoy each other’s company. He could hit the long ball."
Williams worked with Jones in the early 1970s on a manpower development training program, where Jones was a teacher.
"Every morning since that day in 1972, I think of him. Jerry was trying to teach me to become a welder and rebuild motors.
"He said when you squeeze your toothpaste out on your toothbrush and you squeeze it back and forth, that was the sign of a good weld. Every day when I get up and brush my teeth I think of him," Williams said. "He was driven by perfection, and he gave that gift to me."
Survivors in his extensive family include his wife of 40 years, Shirley W. Jones; daughters Angie, Jackie, Penny, Carla Rose and Tillie Jo Jones; and 11 grandchildren, all of Tulalip.
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.
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