Frank W. Jones Jr.


NEW HARTFORD - Frank W. Jones Jr., a decorated veteran of both the U.S. Army during World War II, and the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War, died suddenly at his home in Weston, Mass., on Feb. 8, 2008.

He was a native of New Hartford, Conn., where he grew up and where he lived following his retirement. Mr. Jones graduated from The Hill School; West Point in 1943; and the National War College in 1966.

Fighting in Gen. George Patton's Third Army in France soon after D-Day, Mr. Jones, 23, received the Bronze Star and the Silver Star. He was also awarded a Purple Heart for wounds he received while commanding a tank battalion near Metz, France. After hospitalization, he returned to the front at the Battle of the Bulge. Crossing Germany to Czechoslovakia in the war's final months, he joined Gen. Patton's staff in post-war Germany.

He joined the CIA in 1954, serving in Austria, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, Norway and Switzerland as well as Washington. When Col. Jones retired from the CIA in 1975, he was awarded the Intelligence Medal of Merit by the CIA deputy director, Gen. Vernon Walters, who noted that Mr. Jones had "rendered great service to the cause of freedom and to the United States… projecting an image of the United States, of its credibility, its honor, and its ability to be friendly to its friends."

He retired to 'Woodlands,' his boyhood home in New Hartford, built by his grandfather in 1906, where he led successful efforts to conserve a local river and a family forest for public use.

In keeping with the dignity and humility with which he lived, a life of anonymity in the CIA, he continued to fight the progression of Parkinson's disease, remaining active in a Parkinson's support group, the Weston Military History Group, and Kartwheels, a mobility program for handicapped youth. He recently completed a memoir for his family, with the aide of a hospice volunteer.

Mr. Jones is survived by his wife, Arlene, of Bloomfield Conn.; three daughters, Jeannie Jones, of Colebrook, Dr. Robin Jones of Weston and Kristin Jones of New York and Rome; two grandchildren; and two nephews.

Memorial services will be held on April 12 at 4 p.m. at First Parish Church, Bedford Road, Lincoln, Mass., and in New Hartford at a later date.

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