Frank Lafayette Jones

Frank was born in Woodville, Mississippi on April 19, 1950. He was the fifth son of Katherine and Charlie Jones. When he was a little boy his nickname was Tank, because he was trying to keep up with 4 older brothers David, Leroy, Hilton and Milton. At that time the family lived on a farm and his job was to help with chickens. He had good memories of that time.

The family continued to grow. after the 5 boys, 2 girls Linda and Shirley, and then 3 more brothers Carlton, Anthony, and Elvis. This was not a good time to be Black in Mississippi and the family moved to the Baton Rouge area in Louisiana. Frank was a very good student at Scotlandville High School. He was picked to be in a program called Upward Bound. the program brought students from the south to California to live with families and attend California Community Colleges. Frank's first love in California was the beach! He attended Southwestern Community College near San Diego for 2 years.

By 1973, Frank was an RA at USIU and on the week the RAs came to school, before the start of classes, he meet another RA, Nancy Jane Woodhouse. They became friends, and Frank had no desire to date a "white girl", but long story short after trying to forget about her, they were married on October 26, 1974. They had difficult times in the world but never with each other. They were very much in love for 48 years. They lived at the same address most of that time.

Frank joined the Navy in August of 1974. He enjoyed being a corpsman on a ship, and a lab tech at bases mostly in San Diego. He was in the Navy for 5 years. He then used the GI bill to go back to college at San Diego State University. He received his BA in Physics. He had a few jobs, but mostly he worked in light measurement for EGG Gamma Scientific.

Frank enjoyed his work and always worked hard, putting in long hours. He was helpful to customers and coworkers.

Frank enjoyed many activities, holidays, and traditions. He had to enjoy baseball (Nancy's favorite), but he picked as his favorite college basketball and golf. Mostly he enjoyed sharing time with friends and family. He was a kind, loving, and gentle man. He wanted the world to be a nicer place for everyone in it.

He is survived by his wife, Nancy Jones. Also survived by his living brothers and sisters: David William, Milton Jones, Linda Brown, Shirley Watkins, Anthony Jones, and Elvis Jones. His in-laws are Lynn Woodhouse, Lois Jones, Charlene Jones, Bill Livingood, and James Brown. He loved all his nieces and nephews and especially enjoyed showing California to anyone that made it this far west!

In lieu of flowers, any donation to the Southern Poverty Law Center would be appreciated. Frank will have military services and burial at Fort Rosecrans in San Diego on February 22, 2022 at 2:30. We will be Celebrating his kind Life!