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Melvin Jones, 69, the spouse of the Rev. Vivian L. Jones, a retired Associate Member, died Oct. 14, 2010, from complications to hip replacement surgery.  The Rev. Alfreda Wiggins officiated at a funeral service Oct. 22 at John Wesley UMC in Baltimore. The Revs. Jeremiah Williams, Iris Farabee Lewis and John T. Smith participated.

Melvin Jones was educated in Ridgeland, S.C., but left school to help support his family. He entered the U.S. Army in 1952 and saw active duty in the Korean conflict. When he returned in 1954, he reunited with his teenage sweetheart, Vivian Martin, and they were married in December, 1956. They had four children who survive.

He worked for various companies, sometimes as a taxi driver and handyman, then took early retirement from the Baltimore County Board of Education in 1993.

He was always active and active at John Wesley UMC, even while his wife pursued her later-life ministerial degree and church appointments. She served Ebenezer UMC in Ijamsville for a year, then moved to St. Luke UMC in Baltimore. In 2004, she was appointed to the staff of Asbury UMC in Washington and stayed there until her retirement in 2007.

He enjoyed fishing, hunting and late night poker with the “boys” in East Baltimore.

Melvin Jones, referred to as “Pop Pop” by his children and grandchildren, was comfortable babysitting the pets while his wife traveled around the world, as long as she brought him back a souvenir, the funeral program said. They became known as “the princess and the country boy.”

Survivors include his wife of 53 years; three daughters, Sandra Marie Randolph, Karen Ann Jones, Alesia Louise Jones, and a son Marvin Jones; eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.