Tribute to Dr. Bill Jones Batten Professor of Political Science
“Bill taught us to see life with mind
and heart and soul together.”
The absence of Dr. Bill Jones, Batten Professor of Political Science, could be felt at Virginia Wesleyan from the moment he left campus in 2005 to undergo surgery for a brain tumor
Bill, 62, died peacefully on May 14 at his home in Norfolk, Va. The former College Marshal had seen another academic year through to completion, taking his final breaths on the morning of Commencement Monday, a Virginia Wesleyan holiday.
In addition to his mother, Bill is survived by his wife, Constance McCulloch Jones, and their two children, his brother, his sister, and twelve nieces and nephews. He will be remembered by hundreds of people who cared for him, visited him, and heard of his life in the living room during the last two years.
"We knew this day was coming, but that counts for nothing against that loss," wrote Dr. Joyce Howell, Batten Professor of Art History, in an e-mail to the campus community. "He was proud to be a faculty member and humbled by the privilege to serve in this way. By his powerful example our beloved Professor Jones has shaped our individual and collective identities, and consequently, long after today, his memory will continue to shape our institution."
Since 1979, Bill had been an integral part of Virginia Wesleyan, known for his devotion to his students, for his wit and the breadth of his knowledge, and for using film clips in every course he taught. He received the Samuel Nelson Gray award for outstanding teaching in 1993 and was named a Batten Professor in 2004.
In a College recruitment video, Bill said this about teaching: "I am never happier than at the time, in those moments when I'm actually in the classroom. I really enjoy what I'm doing, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it."
The Wesleyan community was grateful to have Bill, too. "Every community that Bill touched – the neighborhood where he lived, the college where he taught, the church where he worshiped, and the movie theater where he led a film series – was changed by him," wrote Dr. Kathy Merlock Jackson, Batten Professor of Communications, in a tribute to Bill written for The Journal of American Culture. "One cannot find a more common name than Bill Jones, nor a more remarkable man than the Bill Jones we knew."
Bill was known for wearing bow-ties, loving old cars and being a passionate and eclectic music-lover. Not short on talents, he sometimes also appeared in Fine Arts productions at Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church, where he was a longtime member.
Bill's presence lifted people around him, and his intelligence inspired everyone in his path. A brain tumor seemed a most cruel affliction for a man who'd lived his life as a witty scholar, but even in the days leading to his death, Bill continued teaching life's lessons to his many visitors through the power of life's delicateness and the real love conveyed in a smile or a tear.
Bill once said, "I teach to nurture my students' inner vision—to see politics and culture with mind and heart and soul together." We were all his students. In this final lesson, Bill taught us to see life with mind and heart and soul together.
You made our lives rich, Bill. For that, we thank you.
In Bill's memory contributions may be made to the William Milton Jones Endowment to fund a permanent scholarship for a public school student from Hampton Roads to attend Virginia Wesleyan. Jones Endowment, Virginia Wesleyan College, 1584 Wesleyan Drive, Norfolk, VA 23502