JONES, Alex E. (Dr.)

The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona Monday, March 3, 2003 Dr. Alex E. Jones, Sun City, Arizona, died peacefully at home on February 28, after a brief illness. A native of Independence, Missouri, he graduated with distinction from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, which he attended on a Rector Scholarship. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he earned his master's degree and doctorate from the University of Minnesota, where he was also a faculty member. During his career in education, he received honorary degrees from DePauw University, the University of Arkansas, Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and Indiana Central College. A recognized authority on the works of Mark Twain, Dr. Jones was president of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1963 to 1977. He had come to Butler in 1959 as Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Prior to that, he taught English at the University of Arkansas and MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. After leaving Butler, Dr. Jones served as executive vice president of Winona Memorial Foundation in Indianapolis until his retirement in 1985. A member and past president of the downtown Indianapolis chapter of Kiwanis, he was also a member of the board of directors of American United Life Insurance Company in Indianapolis, where he served as chairman of the audit committee. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Eta Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi and Kappa Delta Pi. He was author of Creative Expositions and numerous articles on Mark Twain and other American writers and co-author of Writing Good Prose. Dr. Jones and his wife, Betty Mullins Jones, moved to Sun City in 1992. She died in 2001, after 55 years of marriage. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Colonel Joseph William Jones of Kansas City, Missouri, and a son, Daniel William Jones. He is survived by his daughter Buffy Jones of Peoria, Arizona, his daughter and son-in-law, Jody Jones Serey and David Serey of Glendale, Arizona, and his three grandchildren, Laura Jane Serey and Alexander Joseph Serey of Glendale, Arizona, and Nathan David Serey of Tampa, Florida. Funeral services will be held in Danville, Indiana, with burial in Forest Hills Cemetery, Greencastle, Indiana. Courtesy of Pat Wilson.