Thanks to so many who made Dad’s funeral a true celebration of life. Thanks to you who attended, sent cards, smiled, and hugged us. Thanks to the folks at the Union Congregational church and Rev. Michael J. Small who worked to make the service a perfect tribute and the luncheon a time of fellowship. Thanks to amazing family and friends who contributed to the service in some way. Thanks to the VFW members who gave an outstanding 21 gun salute. Thanks to the many of you who couldn’t attend but sent your thoughts and prayers our way to lift us during the day. The Jones (Brown, Plonka, Rudkin, Lafflam) family thanks you.
Several have asked for a copy of the service. Unfortunately we did not tape it but do have some of the text that I’ll include below.
The day was a blur to our family but we know Dad would have been pleased, after all where else could one hear about ham radio, see pictures of beavers, listen to Neil Diamond, and participate in a guitar sing along all in one place?
Celebrating the Life of Thomas Anton Jones WØQF
March 31,1939 - April 8, 2008
Journeys
By Gracee Rudkin
He’s skied the slopes of Italy
And traveled Europe, far and wide
He’s snorkeled the Atlantic Sea…
Explored the world; but on this side.
The final moments came too soon
He hunted turkey, elk and deer.
He was akin to Daniel Boone…
Did winter camping without fear.
He was a husband, son, and dad,
A grandpa, and a bro…
And we will miss him on this earth
Much more than he could know.
Another journey will begin…
Hoist your canoe; and take a ride.
First going out and coming in…
A portage to the other side.
Godspeed.
Eulogy for Tom Jones
4-12-08 in Hackensack, MN
By Fritz Bertelt WØKO
My name if Fritz Bertelt and I represent, as trustee, the many members of the Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club. It is an honor for me to have been asked to say a few words today.
First, we offer our sincerest condolences to all the family members—many of you we have met personally—others we hope to meet today. You can all be proud of the quality person Tom was in your large family. In addition, I know you will have many good memories to sustain you. I am going to address only part of the dash between 1939 and 2008.
Yes, we are celebrating a life here—the life of Tom Jones. To us hams—hams is the term we use to refer to amateur radio operators---Tom was a special person—he was WØQF, holding the top amateur license the FCC issues. He accomplished this under the old licensing rules which were more stringent than today’s. In order to pass the tests he not only had to understand radio theory and regulations, but he also had to demonstrate high-speed code ability. Clearly, he was an expert.
Also—and equally important, we recognize his electronic abilities: You know that he was an engineer—a valued and quality employee at Hunt Technologies. Talented, Tom was able to design and build all kinds of gadgets. And he could tell you how and why they worked—whether one cared or not! In later years he developed a special love for using low-power to make radio contacts. Of course, the best and most efficient way is to use the International Morse Code. This code was like a second language to him, and he enjoyed making many contacts this way because it was a challenge. At camping or Field Day events he would make many more contacts using only code to rack up a high score.
For the BAARC Tom participated in test sessions where he was a volunteer examiner. At these events prospective hams would take exams and have them graded. When they passed, they became licensed, were issued call signs and then participated in the ham radio fraternity as Tom did.
On a personal note I want to say how bravely Tom fought this cancer. In doing so many of us commented how he never complained, how he kept his spirits up, and managed to find humor in spite of trying circumstances. Of course, a strong faith in his Savior is the key. By now, I am positive, Tom has found the ham radio room among the many mansions the Lord talks about in the Scripture.
Thanks to Rene’, Tanya, and other family members, we were able to share in those special moments, those family experiences, those times--whether hopeful or not—all due to the many messages sent by means of the CaringBridge web site.
Through his health ordeal, Tom taught all of us how to die—he was not only a credit to all of mankind, but also and especially to his entire family: to his mother, wife,, children and grandchildren. I trust and pray that some of that positive spirit will rub off on us all as we gather to remember him and celebrate his life.
When he was at our house in January, I found out that he had spent some time in Germany, so I told him when he left that day that I am not going to say good-bye---instead Auf Wiedersehen! This is the approximate equivalent of good-bye, but it carries with it an extra, more important meaning: that of a reunion, of seeing one another again. Thus, it is not a final good-bye. He liked that when I said that to him. And he said Auf Wiedersehen upon leaving. Truly, we all want to see each other again---in Heaven.
On that note of signing off, we hams use the letters SK at the very end of the sending, when the conversation is done. It is also the symbolic designation of a ham radio operator who has died—referred to as a SILENT KEY. So sending the letters SK together at the end means that the key is now silent, no more transmissions will be sent or heard. Consequently, with tom’s death the station of WØQF here on Earth is permanently silent.
So---Tom--- we will all be warmly thinking of you when we send SK—didididahdidah.
Thank You!
Dad and Popcorn
By Rene Lafflam
I’m sure there were more than one of you today who raised an eyebrow or two when you walked into the church and were given a packet of microwave popcorn. Let me explain why we felt it appropriate to give out popcorn at a funeral.
Popcorn. According to the internet site Popcorn.org, Americans consume some 16 billion quarts of this whole grain, good-for-you treat in one year. That’s 54 quarts per man, woman, and child.
And the Jones clan has eaten their fair share. I’ve learned that this is an intergenerational thing. My Grandma and Grandpa Jones loved popcorn; during the Depression it was a tasty and affordable treat. This love has been passed down to each generation, Aunt Gracee loves it, my nephews devour it, and I do as well. Our family often enjoys movie time together and popcorn is always there.
Dad loved popcorn, always better with a Guinness, but he ate this treat as a meal. Growing up it was our family tradition to have Sunday suppers of corn and chocolate milkshakes while watching The Wonderful World of Disney.
Besides loving popcorn, what was Dad all about? As you may have read on the Caring Bridge website, he was an adventurer who had a diverse and full life. And although I’ve tried to give an overview of his life on the site, I have really only scratched the surface.
Monty Python comedy sketches, beaver trapping, water skiing on chairs, circuit boards, scuba diving for squid, Morse code, snow camping, the History channel, German cameras, action movies, turtles, Credence Clearwater Revival, night down-hill skiing, chess, Boundary Waters, and super computers so big that my sister and I could play hide-n-seek in them. All of these things were part of who my Dad was and because of his love and skill with photography we have so many Kodak moments to remember him through. You’ll get to view some of these during the slide show that we’ll play later in the service.
Dad’s life took him around the United States and all over Europe. He wasn’t afraid to try new things and enjoyed sharing his knowledge with others. Dad was competitive, not with others, but with himself. He set a high standard-wanted to be the first at the top of the mountain with a radio on his back; youngest to get his novice class radio communications test and with a perfect score; find the most challenging way to water ski – on a chair balanced on a saucer sled; break his personal best time in biking around the Battle of Saratoga Park; hunt the wildest animals, like bear hunting in a canoe with his buddy Matt. I could go on and on with examples of Dad trying to one up himself. He did this throughout his entire life.
That is exactly the way he dealt with this cancer, trying to be the best. At times his relentless ambition to be healthy was hard for us as a family, when we just wanted him to accept his fate. Even after the doctors said “oh we don’t do bone marrow transplants for anyone over 50” he pressed on and they agreed his body was in better shape than most patients 30 years younger and this 69 year old got a transplant. When the doctors said “well it’s time to go home to hospice” Dad pressed on and wanted to go back to the Mayo Clinic to the best medical care in the world for a trial test. And recently when the doctors gave him a week to live and we wanted to bring him back to the Hackensack cabin he refused, wanting instead to remain in Rochester near the Mayo Clinic, where they may be able to extend his life. Throughout this 9-month journey my respect for this man has grown and I am blessed to call him my dad.
During this time so many of you have reached out to him and to our family; supporting and praying for us. We thank you for that. There really are no words to express how you taught us more about Dad and carried us through really tough times. What did we learn about him the past 10 months?
That his sense of humor remained. He continued to give wise cracks to both the nurses and the doctors even while his cells were breaking down.
We were continually impressed at the amazing capacity for this man’s mind. His intelligence even coming through when he was in a comatose state and trying to fix machines around the hospital room.
We learned that he was a father figure and teacher to so many of you. What bigger compliment is there than to hear that people think of your dad so highly that they want to share him?
In Dad’s last week, he, Claudia and Phil went to “21” an action adventure about a Las Vegas card counter. Although Dad hadn’t kept anything in his stomach for weeks, he ate and savored that last bucket of popcorn.
I’m honored to have been this man’s daughter and part of this far-from perfect, blended non-traditional family. It is my hope that Dad is now catching up with my Grandpa, his dad, Buck, looking out over a lake, and sharing together in our buttery family treat of popcorn.
The following text was attached to each bag of popcorn given away to attendees.
Pop Quiz on Tom Jones
Pop Questions
1Q. What does W0QF mean?
2Q. Tom hunted/trapped each of these creatures except one. Which one? Buffalo, beaver, duck, ostrich, squirrel, fisher, coyote, squid, elk, and deer.
3Q. What did Tom do when deep in thought?
4Q. What were Tom’s dirty little laundry secrets?
5Q. What was the secret ingredient in Tom’s pancakes? Baking powder, gun powder, acorn powder, talcum powder, fresh powder, or chili powder.
6Q. Why did Tom (age 6) hack off the back of his panel station wagon peddle car? Because: he was mad at his sister Gracee, who used to ride in the back of the car; to make the car shorter so it had a tighter turning radius to navigate the corner of their apartment hallway; to convert the back of it into a radio on wheels.
7Q. What singers did Tom not enjoy? Bee Gees, Porter Waggoner, Cher, Johnny Cash, Traveling Wilbury’s, Beatles, Neil Diamond, CCR, B-52’s, REM, or Tina Turner.
Pop Answers
1A. WOQF is Tom’s Ham Radio call sign, an FCC Extra Class license.
2A. Ostrich
3A. Twirled his hair around his finger.
4A. Tom went through a phase mid-life in which he decided washing his clothes on a washboard was the most economical way to clean them.
5A. Although Tom loved skiing in fresh powder, shooting with gun powder, and cooking with his fresh grown chili powder, he got a kick out of grinding acorns and adding it to his pancake batter.
6A. Frustrated that he couldn’t whip around the corner in the hallway because his car always got stuck, Tom took a saw to it. His first car overhaul.
7Q. Surprisingly enough Tom loved the Bee Gees; he was rather diverse in his musical taste. But he really didn’t enjoy drawling country music like Porter Waggoner.
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