- Date Of Birth: November 5, 1931
- Date Of Death: January 17, 2016
- State: Maine
John K. Jones
November 5, 1931
January 17, 2016
John K. Jones, 84
John Kinkead Jones died peacefully holding hands with his devoted wife Elaine in Portland on January 17 at 9:20 AM. The more important fact is that he lived.
The only child of Celtic immigrants, he was raised in upstate New York, attended the University of Michigan and earned a degree of Juris Doctor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He served in the U. S. Army during the Korean War and was a member of Mensa. He had an eclectic range of careers including insurance adjustor, small business owner, carpenter, cabinetmaker, and Director of Marketing for the Maine State Department of Agriculture. In this last position, his most treasured achievement was aiding the development and growth of the Farmers’ Market program. In the words of two of the then-Market Presidents “We appreciate his good offices and want it on his record.”
He knew how hard farmers work and he became good friends with many of them.
During the 1980’s, John and his wife traveled the entire State of Maine and he photographed the 278 public library buildings existing at the time. At the urging of many librarians John created a large traveling show, ‘A Maine Portrait,’ adding fact and history-filled storyboards to the commercial quality photos. The show toured the state and then John presented nine 3-ring binders with 1,628 slides of library images to the Maine State Library for public use. Many of these buildings no longer exist, but they are safe for future generations to enjoy. In 2014 John was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from the Maine Health Care Association for his personal and professional accomplishments.
John was a gifted writer and lover of words. He wrote “Taylor – A Brief History of a Short Street”, a detailed chronicle of the street he lived on for many years. It is a thoroughly researched study including the street’s origins in the 1870’s, a history of each house and occupants and a survey of the West End. While leading tours for Greater Portland Landmarks, John got the idea for an annual walk on his birthday and for 10 years, he circumperambulated all or part of Portland and wrote entertaining pieces about each trip. His collection of ‘lesser Portland landmarks’ must be unique.
