Beloved ‘Coach Jones’ mourned

Russell “Pat” Jones had many titles during his long life, and while many in the community are mourning his death on Tuesday, May 28, there’s one thing all that knew him remember — the long lasting legacy he left behind.

“Yesterday I was talking with my mother-in-law, and she said there were so many wonderful things that Mr. Jones had done that touched so many lives, that people would never know about, and it had been the greatest privilege of her life to be married to him,” Ben Wright, Jones’ son-in-law, said in his eulogy. “You know Carl Sandburg was right ‘A tree is best measured when it is down.’ And so too we often wait to measure a man’s life when it is over.

“I believe Micah 6:8 answers that question for us of how that life is measured. “Oh people the Lord has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

“If ever there was a man who did what Micah said the Lord requires of us, it was Mr. Jones. He did what was right, by his kindness to others. He showed his love for mercy and Mr. Jones had a right relationship with God.

“As a family, we are happy and rejoice because we know where he is, and we believe with all our hearts that one day we will see him again.”

Jones, who was 93, wore countless hats, serving as a teacher at Murfreesboro, Hope Mills, Vanceboro, Clement and Lakewood high schools. He was even quite well known as “Coach Jones” by countless others due to his 39-year-tenure of coaching football, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball.

A career that saw him win 451 baseball games and earned him a 1A State Baseball Runner-up title in 1975.

“The death of Coach Russell ‘Pat’ Jones will hit daddy pretty hard, but he will forever tell the story of his 1968 Clement Baseball team and the Sampson County Championship they won,” Najshula Hall Lassiter posted on social media about her father Gary Wayne Hall’s reaction to Jones’ death. “I think every time I hear daddy tell the story his hand will start stinging thinking about the pitches E.V. Spell threw him. Not sure if the record still holds to this day but Spell held the record for the most strikeouts in a game, 33. Coach Jones lost his record books due to a house fire years ago and all the memories from that season so the team got a photo together several years ago with Coach Jones. Prayers going up for Coach Jones’ family.”

Jones was president of the NC Coaches Association in 1983 and head girls basketball coach in the NC East-West All Star Game in 1987. Coaching over 2,000 varsity high school games, he also led the Hoopers, a women’s senior citizen basketball team in Sampson County who regularly made appearances at the Senior Games. He coached that team to the National Championship in 2007.

It was that long and storied coaching career that earned him the honor of being an inductee into the Sampson County Sports Hall of Fame.

Jones was a native of Sampson County and the son of Arthur Russell and Mallie Iola Spell Jones. He was a graduate of Salemburg High School, Louisburg College, East College University and attended Duke University. His love for the county he served never waned as he was also well known for his roles on many different boards.

His passion as an educator parlayed, after his retirement, into his serving on the Sampson County Board of Education and, later, as a trustee on the Sampson Community College (SCC) board.

“It is with heavy hearts that we remember and honor the incredible contributions of Mr. Pat Jones, a dedicated member of our Board of Trustees since 1998,” SCC posted in a statement about Jones. “His unwavering commitment, wisdom, and passion for our mission have left an incredible mark on our campus. We are deeply grateful for the positive impact he made and his legacy will continue to inspire us. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Those words mirror that of his longtime colleagues and friends, SCC president Dr. Bill Starling, board of trustees chair Dr. Ted Thomas, who offered their personal thoughts of Jones’ legacy.

“All of our faculty, staff and trustees who have served with Mr. Jones thank him for all he’s done,” Starling said. “I think he’s our longest continuing trustee member and I just want to remember him and to thank his family for sharing his time with us. He was a special supporter of our faculty and our school and has been a personal friend. We’ll remember him as someone who has made a lasting contribution to our institution.”

“As far as being a trustee at the community college, he was faithful,” Thomas said. “He was dedicated and he always tried to do the best that he could as far as the children are concerned. His decisions were always based on what was best for the children at community college. He was always student based, which I guess came from his coaching and educational background. He always wanted to make sure that any decision that we made, it for the betterment of the school but also that students would benefit from it. I tell you what, we are definitely going to surely miss him.”

His former students are a further testament to his dedication to educating and bringing the best out of all he touched. One such student was Anthony Sessoms, who had Jones as a 6th grade teacher and grew up to serve on the Board of Trustees with him at SCC.

“As I think about and dwell on Mr. Jones, I’m constantly reminded of the longevity of his decades of active participation in the education of young people and adults,” he said. “He was evenly tempered to a middle school student as he was to us as a trustee. He was truly a gentleman and his dedication to educating others, coaching others and getting the best out of people can just never be overstated.”

Jones, friends said, he truly had a servant’s heart. He was a delegate to the Sampson County Senior TarHeel Legislator and a member of the Salemburg Baptist Church, serving as a deacon. He was past president of the Sampson-Clinton Retired Teacher Association, Sampson County AARP, Sampson County Wildlife Club and Tomahawk Hunting Club and held membership as a Past Master of Coharie Masonic Lodge #379 and the Sudan Shriners. He was also a member of the Southeastern Senior Golf Association.

He accomplished many feats in his long life but for Jones it was always about others. “My biggest enjoyment is seeing the people I taught and coached go on to be well-adjusted community people.” That was a quote he once shared about his achievements in an article from the January 6, 2005 Edition of “Cape Fear Sports.”

It was truly never about him but about the people he loved so dearly.

“A life well lived, that was my thought as I was reading the obituary for Pat,”another of his former students, Mac McPhail wrote in his column about Jones in Saturday’s Sampson Independent. “Not just for the many accomplishments listed in the obituary, but for the positive impact he had on so many lives through the years. Well done, Coach Jones, well done.”

“What a great example he was for all of us,” Wright said in the conclusion of his eulogy. “Our fond memories of him are etched deep into the recesses of our minds and he will inspire us in the days ahead as he has in the days past, by the wonderful life he modeled. What a great husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, great grandfather, teacher, and coach. “Mr. Jones,” what a great man, who lived fully, loved deeply and made a difference in the world.”