Frank B. Jones

Frank B. Jones, 86, the executive secretary of the Indiana University Alumni Association from 1968-87, died on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Jones also served as the director of alumni affairs for Indiana University. Jones had worked at the Alumni Association since 1951 as assistant alumni secretary before assuming the helm in 1968. Under Jones's leadership, the IU Alumni Association became one of the nation's largest with 62,000 dues-paying members during his tenure and won 13 national alumni administration awards for excellence. Jones placed an emphasis on fostering relationships between faculty and the Alumni Association, initiated a number of continuing education opportunities for alumni, and established two alumni family camps, including Camp Brosius in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., in 1973. It was under Jones that the IU Alumni Association became a legal entity separate from the university in 1969. "Frank Jones was an innovative executive secretary of the IU Alumni Association and responsible for many of our nationally awarded programs. During the '60s, '70s, and '80s, Frank positioned IUAA to be a leader in alumni programming," said Tom Martz, president and CEO of the IUAA since 2007. "I was fortunate to have worked with Frank in the '70s and took many of his program innovations to the other universities where I have served. It was great to return to IUAA two years ago and get reacquainted with Frank. The IUAA family will miss him." "Frank understood the strong importance of alumni to the furtherance of the university. He had a passion for serving alumni and involving them in the life of IU. I greatly appreciated Frank's wise counsel in this regard during my service as the IUAA president," said Ken Beckley, president and CEO of the IU Alumni Association from 2002-07. Born in Laurel, Md., on April 3, 1923, Jones graduated from Westfield High School in Westfield, N.J. He came to Bloomington in 1942 on a track scholarship, but his education was interrupted by service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He married Geraldine M. Newton of Milwaukee, Wisc., six months before heading to war, where he served "somewhere in Dutch New Guinea." He returned to IU after the war ended in 1946. He received two degrees from IU: a bachelor's degree in social studies with minors in general business and physical education in 1946 and a master's degree in physical education in 1951. Jones served as an assistant track coach at IU before working for the Alumni Association. In addition to serving the IU Alumni Association from 1951-87, nearly 20 of those years as the association's leader, Jones was also devoted to the community and the university at large. In 1956 he received the Bloomington Junior Chamber of Commerce's "Outstanding Young Man of the Year Award" for his part in raising funds for the Exchange Home, a residence for children attending the IU Speech and Hearing Clinic. He served as chief steward of the Little 500, an adviser to the Delta Upsilon fraternity, raised money for the American Olympic fund, and was vice president of the Indiana Amateur Athletic Association. He was also a member of Burton Woolery Post No. 18 of the American Legion, Monroe Lodge No. 22, F. & A.M., Scottish Rite and Murat Shrine of Indianapolis, and the United Presbyterian Church of Bloomington. Jones was a scholar of Benjamin Franklin, having written many articles on the founding father, and a book, Benjamin Franklin Remembered, that sold more than 10,000 copies. Jones was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award by the Benjamin Franklin Literary and Medical Society in recognition of his contributions to the 200th Anniversary Celebration of the Treaty of Paris in 1983. Jones also served as the president of the Benjamin Franklin Guild and was appointed to a University of Pennsylvania committee to form a nationwide Franklin organization. Jones resigned as the executive secretary of the IU Alumni Association in 1987 to accept the position of director of the Bicentennial Celebration of the Northwest Ordinance which was sponsored by the alumni associations of the Big Ten Conference universities. In 1989, Jones was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Service Award, Indiana University's highest accolade reserved solely for its alumni. Jones was preceded in death by his first wife and grandchildren Natalie and Hunter Jones. In 2002, Jones married Marie Otteson of Bloomington. She survives. Survivors also include three brothers Fred (Olga) Jones and Ralph (Carol) Jones of New Jersey, and Bob (Gail) Jones of Port St. Lucie, Fla.; children Frederic W. Jones (Marsha) and Sally Jones (Frank Young) of Bloomington, Nancy Jones of Cambridge, Mass., and Doug Jones (Aleida) of San Jose, Calif.; and grandchildren Luke Jones (Amy), Ben Jones (Christy), Cora Segal, Jessica Cielo (Ivan), Caleb Jones (Morgan), and Nathan Goldberger. Also surviving are step-children Judy Lawrence and Martha Lubarsky (Tony) of Bloomington; Karn Lucero (Roy) and John Otteson of Indianapolis; 15 great-grandchildren; nine step-grandchildren; and four step-great-grandchildren. In a 1991 article in the Indiana Alumni Magazine, Jones said, "I have no regrets. I can't tell you how important it is to me to have had a relationship for so long - 50 years as a student and an employee - with such a friendly place as IU." Funeral arrangements will all be held in Bloomington. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Allen Funeral Home, 4155 S. Old State Road 37. The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Friday at the United Presbyterian Church, 1701 E. Second St. Burial will be at Valhalla Memorial Gardens, 1710 W. Eight St., where the Veterans Honor Guard will conduct military graveside rites. Contributions may be made in Jones's memory to the track and field general scholarship fund in care of the Indiana University Foundation, P.O. Box 500, Bloomington, IN 47402. Online condolences may be made at www.allenfuneralhome.org.

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Frank B. Jones

April 3, 1923 - August 25, 2009