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Melville Clark Jones Jr

Date of Death: February 14, 2025

Date of Birth: October 28, 1930

Biography:

AUBURN - Melville "Mel" Clark Jones Jr. died of natural causes at the age of 94 on Friday, February 14, 2025, in Lewiston, Maine, after a brief period of ill health.  He was born on October 28, 1930, in Auburn, Maine, the first of two children, and only son, of Melville Clark Jones, a local mechanic, and Agnes Mae (Estes) Jones, a homemaker.

In his youth, Mel was known as Clark by his friends and Junior by his family, including his younger sister Muriel.  Mel was educated in Auburn schools, and graduated with the Class of 1948 from Edward Little High School.  He then pursued an associate's degree in business at the Auburn (Maine) School of Commerce.  An attempt to join the Army and serve like his father had was unsuccessful due to the state of Mel's health and hearing issues.  Mel supported Veterans and Veterans' charities all his life, always remembering his father's service as a soldier in the first World War.

Mel spent many of his adult years providing care for his parents; his father died in 1975 and his mother in 1985.  He embarked on careers as a real estate agent and as an office worker, finding his niche at WCBB (later MPBN), working for many years with the Great TV Auction and other programs and events as an employee of the station, and then retiring some twenty years before his death.

Mel took great pride in his membership in the Masons, having achieved Sublime Degree of Master Mason on 5/15/1996, Royal Arch Mason on 2/24/1998, Royal Select & Super-Excellent Master Mason on 3/21/1998, and Scottish Rite Mason on 5/16/1998 (and other honors through the years). Serving as an attendant at funerals and graveside services, especially for veterans, and other cemetery events, was a meaningful part of his life in the twilight of his years.

Mel was also a long-time member of Auburn's High Street Congregational Church, attending every Sunday when he was able and joining robustly in song, if not always on key.  He also very much enjoyed attending the annual Empire Grove Campmeeting in Poland, Maine, each summer when he was able.

Mel lived all his life in Auburn, residing at Poland Road with his parents in his youth, and then moving to his mobile home on Washington Park Road in 1983, after his mother's move to a nursing home in the early 1980's.  Mel became friends with many of his neighbors, and remained friends with many more, even after they moved away from the park.

His sister Muriel married Albert "Larry" Merrill in September 1960, and her marriage gave Mel a new brother to share his love of vintage cars, driving and car shows, as well as a beloved niece Deborah and nephew Brian.  Deb grew up and married Raymond Carlson, whom she met during her service in the US Navy, and they had two children, Autumn and Jeremy.  After Muriel's death in 2009, Larry and Mel could often be seen just driving around, until Larry's own death in 2012.  Deb's death from cancer in 2021 was an emotional time for Mel, as was Brian's death in 2023.

Mel is survived by his grandniece Autumn McCahill and her husband and four children, his grandnephew Jeremy Carlson and his spouse, and his nephew-in-law Raymond Carlson, all of Jacksonville, Florida; and many friends in the Auburn/Lewiston area.  Autumn and Jeremy would like to especially thank Mel's Masons buddy David CoWallis Jr. of Auburn for his care of Mel in his last months, Pastor Deborah of the High Street Congregational Church for her pastoral care, and Muriel & Larry Merrill's niece Barbara Pomeroy of Pittsfield for taking care of the details after Mel's death.

A celebration of Mel's life will be held at High Street Congregational Church, 106 Pleasant Street, Auburn, Maine on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.  Mel was cremated at his request.  His cremains will be interred next to his parents at Lower Gloucester Cemetery in New Gloucester, in the afternoon, after the church service.