Vard Stanley Jones (1919-1993)

Vard Stanley Jones, veteran Salt Lake newspaperman, avid golfer, great respecter of nature and the outdoors, died July 1, 1993 in the LDS Hospital of lymphoma. He was 73.

He spent 34 years in the news business, as a reporter and rewrite man for the Deseret News from 1947 to 1959, and as a reporter and wire editor for the Salt Lake Tribune from 1959 until his retirement in 1981. A determined competitor, he won many trophies in Utah golf tournaments.He was a charter member of the select Thursday Sabbath Club whose five or six members for many years spent all day on Thursday each week exploring Utah's deserts, mountains and byways. He became an authority on Utah wildflowers and birds and loved to make others aware of the beauties of nature. He was a good teacher. In the office, he would say to staffers, "Name a wildflower," and if he couldn't supply the scientific name, he'd buy them a cup of coffee or drink.

One of his sayings was, "You gotta live a little or you don't live at all." And he lived by it, only he lived a lot. He was a versatile man who could build a house, make repairs on almost anything, carve birds, make beautiful jewelry with rocks he found, recite verses of Omar Khayyam, tell a good story, and make life-long friends.

He was born October 23, 1919 in Blanding, Utah, a son of Kuman Stanley Jones and Millie Maude Porter. He was proud of being the grandson of Kuman Jones, who drove the first wagon down the Hole in the Rock in the 1879 trek across that wild country. He married Wanda Mae Glasset June 30, 1940 in Salt Lake City. She died January 8, 1985. He attended West and Granite High Schools, Utah State University, and graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He served in the US Air Force during World War II. He was a member of the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the LDS Church.

Survivors include his mother, Maude Allen, Ogden; son, David Jones, LaVerkin; daughter, Sandra Tate, Salt Lake City; 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Also three sisters, Berdine Scott (Bob), Ogden; Ardis Veirs (George), Sun City, Arizona; Marilyn Smith (Don), Garden Grove, Calif.; and best friend, Maxine Martz. A sister, Mae Gale (Lee), preceded him in death.
Graveside services will be Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, 3401 Highland Drive. Friends may call from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. at the Wasatch Lawn Mortuary.

Published in the Deseret News on Sunday, July 4, 1993

Descendancy
Lydia Partridge
Lydia May Lyman
Kumen Stanley Jones
Vard Stanley Jones
Find A Grave Memorial