Dr. Michael Jones, M.Div., Ph.D...

Dr. Michael Jones, M.Div., Ph.D., passed away on March 9, 2025. The cause was the always fatal mesothelioma lung cancer. For someone who lived a healthy lifestyle, was always active outdoors and a known vegetarian, the news of mesothelioma threw him and his family into the abyss.

He is survived by Irene, his best friend and devoted wife of over 50+ years; his daughter, JJ along with Mike and Odin Gross; son, Nathan and Meredith Jones, Taytum and Huxley Goff; brother, David Jones with Shane, Stephen, and Sarah Jones of Illinois; brother, Jon and Kate Jones with Karsen and Jack Spradlin of Florida; Florence and Nicho of Oakland, California; Helen, Alex, and Mariah of Comino, California; longtime friends of our neighborhood association; and friends and colleagues of the No-Sense Club.

Dr. Jones was a proud, honorable, and decorated veteran. He entered the United States Air Force as a canine security guard right out of high school. Much later and with several professional degrees, Dr. Jones joined the United State Navy Chaplain Corps and served the United States Marine Corps as their Padre.

After many years of traveling with the military on the east and west coasts and many duty stations overseas, Dr. Jones arrived at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri as a Professor of Psychology. He loved teaching the advanced psychology courses and introduced his many students to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and became a fierce advocate for those who suffered mental illnesses.

After retiring from College of the Ozarks, Dr. Jones devoted his retirement years driving the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) transportation van in making sure that all the veterans had a way to meet their doctor’s appointments. It was ironic that on one of these trips, a veteran that just received the news he was cancer-free; Dr. Jones received the call that cancer cells were found in his body.

An avid outdoors camper, he enjoyed traveling to many places in the family RV. Dr. Jones was always accompanied by his five dogs and wife, Irene. He loved working around his acreage as there was always something to keep him busy. The last few months of his life and before mesothelioma overtook his body, Dr. Jones was still trimming the cutting felled trees with his favorite chainsaw that now sits idle in the garage.

We give our gratitude and thanks to the hospice nurses: Joe, Mary, Rihanna, and Pete and the staff of Compassus for their support and compassion shown to our family during these difficult days. Their job is never ending or easy.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday March 16, 2025, at Fellowship at Cross Creek, 505 Cedar Park Rd, Branson, Missouri. The burial will be at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery, Springfield, Missouri, at 10:00 a.m. on Monday May 19, 2025.

In memory of a grand person, please donate some of your time to a cause that will please you beyond and forever, that was always Dr. Jones’s mission Arrangement and cremation are under the direction of Cremations of the Ozarks. To leave an online condolence or memory, please visit www.cremationsoftheozarks.com.