John R. Jones, 57, passed away April 26, 2016 at his home in Gunnison, following a brief illness. In John’s fi nal months, he found solace and peace in his faith and family.
John was born Aug. 11, 1958 in Lafayette, Ind., the son of the late Janice Bachleda and John D. Jones.
John graduated high school in 1976 and attended Indiana University in Bloomington for one year, after which he began traveling. He lived in Tennessee for awhile before returning to Lafayette.
In 1981, John married the love of his life, Trish. They had two children, Brandy and Jared.
The outdoors always played a prominent part in John’s life. While living in Lafayette, he frequently participated in bass fishing tournaments and loved hunting for ducks and whitetail deer. He also enjoyed training Labrador retrievers to be hunting dogs.
Later, John became interested in road cycling, adventure racing, mountain and rock climbing — the latter of which led to trips to Red River Gorge in Kentucky and the mountains of Colorado.
John went to work for the Caterpillar machinery plant in Lafayette in 1984. He started by sweeping floors but worked his way up through the ranks of the company in the decades that followed. In 2000, Trish and John moved to Peoria, Ill., after he took a job as a department supervisor. Next, the couple headed to Dyersburg, Tenn., where John worked as a facilities manager.
In 2004, they moved to Asia, where John helped Caterpillar grow new business on the continent. During this time, he and Trish enjoyed sightseeing and traveling throughout Asia and Europe.
After returning to the states in 2008, John went to work for a short while in Aurora, Ill., before being given the coveted task of finding a location to build a state-of-the-art excavator plant. Following much research, John selected Victoria, Texas, where he and Trish moved in 2010.
John made many close friends while living in Victoria and in his leisure time enjoyed hunting, fishing and motorcycling.
Always one to share his wisdom, John made a point over the years to mentor numerous colleagues, family and friends — many of whom are now managing businesses all over the world. Helping people grow both professionally and in life was John’s passion.
On Feb. 29, 2016, John retired from Caterpillar. The same month, he and Trish bought their retirement home in Gunnison, where they moved in April — fulfilling John’s lifelong dream of living in the mountains of Colorado.
John was preceded in death by his mother, Janice (Robert) Bachleda and a sister, Jo Anne, who died as an infant.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Trish; daughter Brandy Braggs and her husband Shonnie of Peoria, Ill.; son Jared Jones and his wife Deirdre of Gunnison; father John D. (Verlina) Jones of Monticello, Ind.; sisters Jo Ellen (John) Bishop of Rutland, Mass.; and Jill Gamewell of Ingleside, Texas; sister-in-law Cathy (John) Ubelhor; and brothers-in-law, David Wortman and Bernard (Barbara) Wortman.
John also leaves behind two grandchildren, Nick and Liana; seven nieces and nephews, Trevor, Lauren, Evan, Collin, Brad, Belinda and Kim; and two great-nieces and a greatnephew.
At John’s request, the family is not having a memorial service. Instead, he urged those who cared about him to go to church with their families and say a prayer. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Warrior’s Weekend, an annual fishing event for wounded military personnel, in Port O’Connor, Texas, by visiting warriorsweekendtx.wordpress.com.
