Henry Esmond "Jay/Papaw/Paco" Jones

Henry Esmond “Jay/Papaw/Paco” Jones, age 78, of Kingsport, Tennessee, passed away at home with his family by his side on August 27, 2023. Esmond was born in Kingsport, Tennessee on January 2, 1945. He graduated from Lynn View High School in 1963 and attended East Tennessee State University for two years where he studied Business Administration. Esmond enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves in 1965 and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. During his military service, he was a Basic Infantryman of Small Arms and obtained a Rifle Sharpshooter Badge. He received an Honorable Discharge in 1971. Esmond began his banking career at Community Finance in 1965. He retired as a vice president of Regions Bank in 2000 after working for 32 years in the banking industry. Esmond met the love of his life, Barbara Anne Baker, in April 1968, and they married on October 19, 1968. Three years later, they were blessed with a son, Esmond David Jones, and then a daughter, Patti Anne Jones, in 1972. Esmond had many interests. His interest in cars and racing started at an early age. Esmond, along with his brother, Roger, and good friend, Ronnie Redwine, were known as the Jones Brothers, and they did drag racing from 1965 until 1977. With their 1957 Chevy wagon "Ole Blue", they held all the A.H.R.A. and I.H.R.A world records for M/SA, F-1, F-2, and F-3 class. Esmond, along with his son, David, and his grandson, Hunter, were restoring a 1965 Corvette at the time of his death. Esmond also enjoyed researching his ancestry and genealogy. He liked music and began learning to play a guitar. Esmond was an active person who never met a stranger. He was a jack of all trades, and willing to help and share his knowledge and expertise with anyone who asked. Esmond was particular with everything he did, and when something was done, it was done right. He was saved at a young age and was a long-time member of First Baptist Church, in Church Hill, Tennessee. Esmond loved the Lord and his family most of all, and he will be sorely missed.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jessee Radford and Juanita Ruthie Rogers Jones; and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Worley Duanna (WD) and Etta Irene Kilgore Baker.

Those left to mourn his loss are his wife of 54 years, Barbara Anne Baker Jones; his son, Esmond "David" Jones (fiancée Kathy Birchfield); and his daughter, Patti Anne Jones (Alley) Bass (husband Rodney Lyons Bass); grandchildren, Carissa Anne Alley, Kierra Brooke Alley, Hunter Esmond Jones, Gabriel Haston Bass, and Philip John Thomas Birchfield (soon-to-be grandson); his brother, Roger Jones (wife Connie); sister-in-law, Janice Baker Addington; nieces, Heather Jones Cates (Wes), Kellie Jones Graves (Matt), and Misty Jones Atkins; and nephews, Michael Wayne Moore and Shane Duane Smith (Melanie).

Esmond’s remembrance of a life well-lived will be on Saturday, September 2, 2023. The visitation will be from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church, Church Hill, Tennessee. The service will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the interment to follow at East Lawn Funeral Home and Memorial Park. Brother Gary Gerhardt and Pastor Dustin Jessee will conduct the service.

Donations in his memory can be made to First Baptist Church of Church Hill.