William E. Jones, “Bill,” of Kent Island (Stevensville) Maryland, died on January 26, 2024, after a long illness, at age 82. He was born on March 2, 1941, and raised in Baltimore, Maryland.

Bill graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, and in 1959 at age 18 he joined the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1966 he entered the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School. He was a highly skilled technician on the electronic Loran-C navigational system then in use by the U.S. military world-wide. He was also chosen to travel to different countries carrying the “atomic clock,” the official time-setting instrument which was used around the world to set the correct time. Today, large technology companies use atomic clocks to sync the internet.

He was deployed to Vietnam from 1967-1968 on the 255-foot USCG Cutter Androscoggin of Squadron 3 in the coastal and river waters of South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

He received numerous ribbons, medals, and commendations during his Coast Guard career, and he retired at the rank of Commander.

While stationed on the North Sea in Germany he married his first wife, and they had two children who live in Germany with their families.

While in the Coast Guard he received a B.S. degree in the field of Electronics Engineering Technology from the Capitol Institute of Technology. Before retiring after 24 years, at the rank of Commander, he returned to the U.S. and pursued a Master of Arts at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. He started teaching math at the Forbush School on the grounds of the Sheppard Pratt Hospital in Towson.

In 1996 he married Rebecca Foxen Jones, “Becky”, of Baltimore. They met through their jobs at Sheppard Pratt. Bill was working at Forbush School and Becky worked as a therapist at one of the hospital’s outpatient clinics in Cockeysville, Maryland.

After 16 years teaching at Forbush School, he retired to ride his Honda motorcycle he named “Animal”, to enjoy his two sailboats, Splash and The Hooligan in the Chesapeake Bay, and to walk his dogs every day at exactly the same time and on exactly the same route. He had a passion for vegetable gardening, particularly tomatoes and squash. He also loved being a volunteer firefighter for the United Communities Fire Department Romancoke on Kent Island. He was a tall and proud man with a big heart and an enthusiastic sense of humor, who served his country and his community with honor and humility.