John C. "Jack" Jones

A Memorial Celebration for longtime Lamar resident and business man John C. “Jack” Jones will be held at 11:00 AM, Thursday, July 13, 2023 at the Peacock Family Chapel with Pastor Paul Floyd of the High Plains Fellowship church officiating.

Jack, as he was better known to his family and friends was born in Fort Benton, Montana, on October 28, 1940 to Benjamin and Rose Ann (McDonald) Jones and passed away at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs on July 5, 2023 at the age of 82.

Jack Jones grew up in eastern Montana. He excelled in school and was a member of the Future Farmers of America.

After high school, Jack joined the Air Force, hoping to see the world. Unfortunately, he was assigned to repair aircraft which never left the continental U.S., so he didn’t travel out of the country. Most of his time was spent in places like Minot, North Dakota and Detroit, Michigan. He did learn electronics, though, which started him on the path that led to the Radio Shack.

One evening in Detroit, he attended a military dance, where he met Pam, who was working as a bookkeeper. After he was discharged, they married and moved back to rural Montana. Soon after that, the couple moved to the Denver area for better employment opportunities. Suzanne was born there.

The following year, they came to Lamar for Jack's job at AT&T, and that's where they stayed. They embraced the community and grew their family. Debbie, Cindy, and David were all born there.

Jack took a correspondence course about how to fix T.V.s, which involved multiple egg cartons full of small parts. Then he started a T.V. repair shop in a rented garage. Pam kept the books and manned the office. A few years after that, they moved the business into downtown and added a Radio Shack franchise. The business moved once more before Jack and Pam constructed the building at 509 E. Olive, where Radio Shack still sits today. Jack Jones is such a common name some people just referred to him as "Jack at Radio Shack." Anyone who had an electronics question stopped in.

Over time, the business evolved from T.V. and radio repair to computer sales. The Radio Shack TRS-80 was the first of the home computers, and Jack became an expert on them. He designed and taught bookkeeping classes for computers before they became widely available.

With an eye to the future, he designed and built rental storage buildings to generate extra income.

As the kids grew up, he taught them about the business and was the first employer for each of them. One of his philosophies as a parent was, “If there isn’t a reason to say, No, I say Yes.” This gave them the freedom to find and pursue their own opportunities.

In October, Pam passed away after fifty-nine years of marriage. Also preceding Jack were his sister Shirley Jones and brother William “Bill” Jones.

Jack continued to work at the Radio Shack store, where people still asked for electronics advice.

Jack is survived by his children; Suzanne (Bruce) Norquist of Grants, NM, Deborah (Stephen) Claypool of Minneapolis, MN, Cindy Jones of Lamar and David Jones of Georgia. Also surviving are his grandchildren; Lawrence Norquist, Caitlin Norquist, Johnathon “Jake” Claypool and Duncan Claypool; brother Ken Jones of Florida, many friends and acquaintances he has made over his many years at AT&T and then through his Radio Shack business.