Obituary of Montra Eugene Jones, Sr.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MONTRA E. JONES, SR. Montra Eugene Jones, Sr., son of George F. Jones, Sr. and Lydia Josephine (Crear) Jones, on July 4, 1923, on the Foster Farms in Thomas County, Kansas. He passed away at the Prairie Haven Nursing Home in Kensington, Kansas, on January 28, 2011, at the age of 87. Montra was the second of 11 children born to George and Lydia. He attended rural schools in the Densmore, Sand Creek, and Lenora communities and graduated from the Lenora Rural High School in 1943. Following his graduation, he entered the U.S. Army, taking his basic training in Camp Robert, California, and then served overseas until his discharge in 1946. He received the Bronze Star with Oakley Clusters and the Purple Heart for his service throughout the Pacific front. On March 19, 1946, Montra and Mary Opal Birney were united in marriage in Dodge City, Kansas. They made their home in several Kansas communities including Norton, Edmond, Lenora, Glasco, Phillipsburg, and Kensington where he worked for the Kansas Department of Transportation for over 30 years. Survivors include: his wife, Mary, of the Prairie Haven Nursing Home in Kensington; three children, Opal Jean, and husband, Don Urbanek, Ellsworth, Kansas; Betty LaVerne, and husband, Ralph Gitchel, Agra, Kansas; and George Nathaniel Jones, Hiawatha, Kansas; two brothers, Richard, and wife, Mattie Jones, Sterling, Kansas; Raymond, and wife, Cheryl Jones, Hutchinson, Kansas; eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; other relatives and friends. Montra was preceded in death by his parents, two sons, Montra E. Jones, Jr. and Joseph K. Jones, six brothers, George, Jr., Donald, Leonard, Harry, Robert, and Edward, and two sisters, Pauline and Marcia. Memorials may be made to Alzheimer's Foundation and the Prairie Honor Flights for WWII Veterans in Great Bend, KS.