Robert William “Bob” Jones
(1926-2024)
The mineral community has suffered a great loss with the passing of noted author and lecturer Bob Jones at the age of 97. He was active in the mineral community for over 65 years and was perhaps its greatest ambassador, inspiring hundreds, if not thousands, to start collecting minerals.
Bob Jones was born on 1 September 1926 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His interest in minerals was sparked when he took a field trip with his fifth-grade class to the Peabody Museum at Yale. There he saw the Silliman-Yale mineral collection, but he was particularly impressed by the exhibition of fluorescent minerals. His love of minerals continued for the rest of his life.
After graduating from Stratford High School in 1944, he served in the Army Air Force in the 509th Composite Wing (the world’s first atomic bomb unit) in Roswell, New Mexico. In 1946, he was assigned to Operation Crossroads, the first post-war atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, as an aircraft mechanic for B-29 bombers. In 1953, he married his first wife, Alicia Abbott of Milford, Connecticut, before enrolling at New Haven State Teacher’s College (now Southern Connecticut State University), where he earned his BS degree in Science Education in 1956 and his MS degree in Science Education in 1959. By this time, Bob had already built up a significant collection of fluorescent minerals. After earning his BS degree, he began his long career as an elementary and middle school science teacher (1956-1988). In 1959, the Jones family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where Bob worked as a teacher and where much of his mineral collecting career and writing took place.
Bob was a prolific writer and mineral photographer who wrote columns for Rocks & Minerals magazine from 1960 to 1973 (“Collecting Fluorescent Minerals” and “The Contact Zone”) and published over 1500 articles and columns (often illustrated with his photos) in Rocks & Minerals, The Mineralogical Record, Lapidary Journal, Monde et Mineraux, Arizona Highways and, most notably, Rock and Gem magazine from 1971 to 2024, where he also served as Senior Consulting Editor and, since 1993, Editor Emeritus.
He was also the author of several books, including Fluorescent Minerals of Connecticut (1960) (based on his master’s thesis), Nature’s Hidden Rainbows (Franklin/Sterling Hill) (1964), 25-Year History of The Tucson Show (1979), co-authored a chapter for America’s Mineral Treasures (2008), and The Frugal Collector (2011). Bob was also co-editor of The F. John Barlow Collection (1996).
Bob first attended the Tucson Show in 1960 and was asked to serve on the TGMS show committee in 1961 because of his association with Rocks & Minerals.. He attended every show thereafter until 2024 – a remarkable record. This long experience helped him write a special tribute in book form titled “A Fifty-Year History of the Tucson Show,” published by the Mineralogical Record in 2004.
He also helped write the script for the Smithsonian-sponsored video “Gemstones of America”, wrote the script for the video “Russian Gem Treasures” and the video “Collecting Earth’s Natural Treasures” (nominated for a PBS Silver Telly Award in 1994), and helped produce the video “Treasures of Tucson”.
Bob was also a popular host of Blue Cap Productions’ “What’s Hot in Tucson” videos, loved for his reports and interviews with mineral dealers. He was a globetrotter who travelled to countless countries and several continents to do research for his articles and videos, and he is known for the large number of mineral interviews, presentations and lectures he gave for decades to countless mineral clubs, societies and mineral shows around the world.
Bob served on the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show committee for a remarkable 40 years (including two terms as show chairman in 2001 and 2004). He was a board member of the Mineralogical Record and the Arizona Mineral and Mining Museum Foundation, served as secretary for the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Arts, and was a past advisory board member of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Kartchner Caverns State Park, and the Flagg Mineral Foundation.
Bob’s extensive accomplishments in the mineral world have been crowned by numerous awards, honours and accolades, including Scottsdale Teacher of the Year (1978), Phi Delta Kappa Outstanding Educator (1985), induction into the National Rockhound & Lapidary Hall of Fame (1991), the prestigious Carnegie Mineralogical Award (1999), the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies Scholarship Foundation Award (2000), the TGMS distinguished Service Award (2006), International Goodwill Ambassador, American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (2008), the Golden Bear Award, California Federation of Mineralogical Societies (2008), the A. L. Flagg Foundation Distinguished Service Award (2012), Mineralogical Society of Arizona Hall of Fame Inductee (2014), the MSA & Flagg Mineral Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), recipient of the Eastern Federation of Mineral Societies Scholarship Endowment (2020), the Fluorescent Mineral Society Hall of Fame (2022), and the Bob Jones Trophy, donated for the best mineral exhibit at the MSA’s Phoenix Heritage Mineral Show (2023).
In addition, the new mineral species bobjonesite was named in his honour in 2003 in recognition of his “contributions to the mineralogical community”. He is an honorary or life member of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, the New Haven Mineral Club, the San Diego Mineral Society, the Mineralogical Society of Arizona, the Flagg Mineral Foundation and the Arizona Mineral Minions. Bob was also involved with the Friends of Mineralogy since its inception and served as Chairman of the Educational Exhibits Committee in 1971.
Bob and his first wife, Alicia, were married for 40 years before her death in 1993. In October 1999, Bob married his beloved second wife, Carol Sues, with whom he spent the rest of his life, traveling the world together.
On the morning of 31 May 2024, Bob passed away peacefully at home in Cave Creek, Arizona, after a brief stay in hospital. He was active until the end; his last “On the Rocks” column appeared in the August 2024 issue of Rock & Gem magazine. He is survived by his wife Carol Sues-Jones, sons William R. Jones and Evan A. Jones, daughter Suzanne Jones, granddaughter Kiera Jones and great-grandson Nico Vernon-Jones.