Obituary of Brian Thomas "Tom" Jones

Brian Thomas (Tom) Jones October 3, 1943 - September 16, 2016 Tom passed away peacefully on Friday night (September 16, 2016) in the Spirit River Hospital Palliative Care Unit. He had been fighting many health issues over the last 10 years, but the last 2 years had been extremely bad. Tom was born in Melfort, Saskatchewan and was the 7th of 8 children. He moved to Calgary at the age of 2 where his parents purchased a small General Store in Albert Park. They moved from Calgary to the Balzac area when Tom was about 31/2 years old, where his parents had a dairy farm, where all the kids helped out. There he attended a little one-room country school where all the kids rode horseback to school. It was apparently the last school in Canada where all students arrived by horse. When he finished his early school years in Balzac he attended school in Airdrie, Alberta. When he had had enough of school he became a truck driver and hauled all over Canada, U.S., Yukon, and Northwest Territories. He was an amazing driver that took pride in his driving ability. Tom was also well known for his beef jerky that people from all over could not get enough of. Anyone who knew him, knew he was a "shoot from the hip, tell it like it is" personality that held nothing back. A rough and gruff outside shell with a marshmallow interior especially when it came to kids. HE WAS EVERYBODY'S PAPA! Tom was predeceased in his immediate family by daughter Jacqueline Jones in 1987, parents Bob and Connie Jones, sister Roberta (Buster) Zerk in 1973, brother Toby Jones in 2010, sister's-in-law Phyllis, Marge and Mary Jones, and good friend of over 50 years, Bob Fulton, who had passed away 26 days earlier (August 21, 2016). Tom leaves to mourn his passing, his wife Donna; children Scott (Darlene), Paula (Huw) Jeffries, Bobbi (Brad) Kotak, and Amanda (Rob) McKay; eight grandchildren Cody, Mitchell, Mikaela, Emily, Morgan, Shae, Azalyn, and Jack; and two step-grandchildren Victoria and Cole. He is also survived by his sisters Shirley (Gordon) Bishop and Peg (Bill) Bauer and brothers Art, David "Doc" and Kenny (Rita) Jones. A Celebration of Tom's life will be held at the Gordondale Hall, Gordondale, Alberta, on Saturday October 8, 2016 at 1:00pm. If family or friends so desire, a donation in Tom's memory may be made to the Spirit River Hospital Palliative Care Unit, Box 339, Spirit River, Alberta T0H 3G0. Arrangements were entrusted to Bergeron Funeral Services & Crematorium Ltd. Service 1:00 pm Saturday, October 8, 2016 Gordondale Hall Hwy 49 GORDONDALE, Alberta, Canada T0H 1V0