Harold Jones
1920 – 2009
PORTLAND — Harold Jones spoke of a depression-era holiday where he, his brothers and sister, each received a stick of gum as their only Christmas gifts. But after a successful career as a surgeon and entrepreneur, he left a legacy of giving to family, friends and community.
Harold Stephen Jones was born in his parents home in Lisbon Falls, Sept. 6, 1920. He graduated from Lewiston High School, attended Eastern Nazarene College (Quincy, Mass.,) and completed pre-medicine studies at Colby College. In 1946, he graduated from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience with the degree doctor of osteopathy.
He interned, completed his residency and practiced at Detroit Osteopathic Hospital, Detroit, Mich., until his retirement in 1983. He was chairman of the Department of Surgery for four years. Additionally he served on the staffs of several other Detroit area facilities including Henry Ford Hospital.
In 1962, he received an honorary degree of Fellow from the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons. He also served a five-month fellowship in Europe in the early 1960s studying the new field of open heart surgery at the University of Copenhagen. He was also on the medical faculty of Michigan State University.
In a practice that spanned 33 years, he performed more than 17,000 surgical procedures.
In addition to his medical practice he had a prolific second career as a builder. More than 40 years, he was responsible for the construction of many of the buildings that formed the retail and industrial areas of North Windham and Raymond, as well as other communities in southern and Western Maine — more than 70 commercial buildings and residences.
He also had a strong interest in the wood products industry in Maine, owning several furniture manufacturers, sawmills and dowel mills in towns like Buckfield, Norway, and Bethel.
For 65 years, his wife, Winnifred (Gould) was a full partner in all his ventures from typing surgical reports to handling the bookkeeping chores for multiple construction sites. They enjoyed their many retirement travels together, but loved being close to their children and grandchildren.
They were generous benefactors to their church (First Congregational, New Gloucester), Opportunity Farm, New Gloucester and St. Joseph’s College, Standish; as well as their alma mater, Eastern Nazarene College, where he was recently named an Alumni of the Year.
Even at age 89, he was active until the end of his life, regularly mowing the lawns of his buildings and directing the reconstruction of an office in South Paris.
He is survived by Winnifred; his brothers, the Rev. Irving Jones of Derry, N.H., and Oklahoma City, Okla., and Dr. Floyd Jones of Detroit, Mich., and White Stone, Va.; his sister, Winnifred Moore of Buffalo, N.Y.; his daughter, Nancy, (Jones) Hansen and her husband, Carl and grandchildren, Riley, Lauren and Parker of Sandwich, N.H.; and his son, Stephen Jones, grandchildren, Griffin and Meredith and their mother, Beth Barefoot.
He was predeceased by his parents, Charles and Laura Jones of North Windham; his brothers, the Rev. Weston Jones of Fryeburg and Laurel Jones of North Windham and Venice, Fla.