Adam Wydale Jones

Adam Wydale (Wardell), (Jimmy) Jones, the second child born to Union of Booker T. Jones Sr., and Ethel Lee (Round) Jones of Belzoni, Mississippi, July 27, 1941. The Joneses are moving their young family from the Catfish Capital of Mississippi to Lima, Ohio, in the mid-fifties. There, Adam met the Love of his life, Mary Ann Cage, in High School, Lima Perry. Adam played basketball, but to earn his money as a caddy at the Lima Golf course. He knew that to be with Mary Ann, he needed money, and he had to have a strategy once he met her parents. Utilizing his internal connection (with the sisters from both families of the Joneses and Cage's). Adam found out that Mrs. Cage loved a Kewpee's Cheeseburger and a Strawberry Milkshake. Well, the mother and sisters loved Adam; he wore Mary Ann down, and she began to like him too. Adam and Mary were married on September 6, 1958, and Adam Jr. was born on December 5, 1958. The Adam and Mary family grew with the birth of Bruce Anthony and Kelvin Jerome. During that time, Adam held various jobs to support his young, growing family. He was a cabbie, a cook, a hustler, a porter on the railroad, and a taxi driver.

Life happened, Adam and Mary had to move their young family to Columbus to receive the best and proper medical attention for little Adam Jr., in 1964. The two of them were out of their element, and they didn't know anyone. It was just the two of them and their three boys. Adam Jr. required around-the-clock medical attention at Children's Hospital, and Bruce and Jerome played around the big tree at the hospital. Adam, seeking employment, began working at Buckeye Steele Casting. He worked for 37 years. In 1968, Christopher Dewayne was born, and this completed the Jones family.

In the early epoch of the Black Renaissance, Adam's life begins from the outset. With him getting established at Buckeye, he became a Shop Steward and Officer for the Steelworkers of America, Local 2342, until he retired in 1997. In pursuing some of his other dreams, Adam was a bowler, from a

Catty to a semi-professional golfer and Mason. He started the Business Jones and Sons Janitorial Services and J & J Catering.

Adam rededicated his life back with the Lord in 1993 at Triedstone Missionary Baptist Church. A renewed passion for serving the Lord, he served on the Senior Usher Board and as the Lead Servant, and served with the Gatekeepers.

Blessed with 83 years, I arrived at his home on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Dad was walking his singing, praising God without anyone's assistance of any sort. Shouting Owe, Thank You Jesus crying aloud, and laughing too. "Son, I am going home". As morbid as it may sound, Daddy resided in the same room as Mom when he gave St. Peter his boarding pass on May 28, 2025, at Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. Surrounded by Family, he is preceded in death by his parents, Ethel Lee and Booker T. Jones Sr., and wife Mary Ann and son Adam Jr., siblings Booker T. Jr, and Gayle Jones.

Celebrating Adam (Jimmy, JJ, Daddy-j, and the Ghetto Boy) cherishing his memory includes.; children Adam W. (Marcy) Jones, Bruce A. (Paulette) Jones, Kelvin J. (Sylvia) Jones, and Christopher D. Jones; sisters Bertha Williams, Lula Mae, Estelle, Ethel Mae Payne, Berta Johnson, Sharon (Anthony) Guice, Trebie Jones and Doris Tyler; Brother Richard, Alfred (LaDonna) , Calvin (Kelli), and Melvin; in-laws Annie Hughes, Madge Cage, Frank Cage, Regina Dansby and Belynda F. Cage.; and a host of grandchildren, great grandchildren; cousins, nieces, nephews and other family members.