Coker Cemetery Association, San Antonio, Texas

Coker Cemetery History #33 - April 2015

by Bob Battaglia

Berath "Bea" Jones passed away on, February 17, 2015. Bea was the last surviving spouse of the “Jones Boys” as she was the widow of Reg Jones. Below is an article that Butch Gerfers posted on Facebook at the passing of Bea’s brother-in-law, Garland Jones in February 2014.

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The artwork pictured above is of the old rock church at Coker in San Antonio. This beautiful picture was on the cover of the bulletin for Garland Jones memorial service this past Wednesday. It was drawn by Garland’s granddaughters, Shannon and Kimberly Jones. Garland was the last surviving brother of a group of young men known as the “Jones Boys” each of whom played a significant role in World War II. Garland, the third oldest, was a decorated pilot who flew many missions in North Africa against Rommel. James, the oldest, worked in New Mexico on the top secret Manhattan Project. Royce, the next oldest, also worked on a top secret project. As an operator of the “Enigma” decoder, he decoded Nazi messages. Royce used to say that he “read Hitler’s mail before Hitler did.” And Reg, the youngest, was a B24 Tail Gunner in the China-Burma-India Theater of the war. With the passing of Garland, all of the Jones Boys are now at rest. We owe a debt of gratitude to them.

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Vivian Lee Jones and Bertha Coker Jones with sons ( left to right) Reginald Capps Jones, (Vivian) Royce, James Lee and Garland. 1923

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If you have interesting stories, newspaper articles or photographs about our early Coker ancestors, please send them in. My email address is: Bob@CokerCemetery.com.