Edwin Gray Jones Jr., 96, founding pastor of Centerville Baptist Church in Anderson, died Aug. 8, 2010, at the Rainey Hospice House.
Born in Anson County, N.C., on March 16, 1914, he was a 1938 graduate of Wake Forest College and a 1941 graduate of Southern Baptist Seminary.
He pastored Grassy Pond Baptist Church in Gaffney and, in Anderson, Lebanon Baptist, North Anderson Baptist and Centerville Baptist. He also served churches in North Carolina and Georgia.
Jones also bred and raised AKC Field Champion Beagles and was a founder of the Iodine State Beagle Club in Spartanburg. Many also knew of his love for watchmaking and repair, which he enjoyed well into his 90s.
He was a longtime member of First Baptist Church, Anderson. At the time of his death, he was a member of Concord Baptist Church in Anderson, and as long as his health permitted he was active in Sunday school.
Jones was married to the late Ruby Pauline Beck Jones, the late Thelma Ponder Jones, and Beatrice Barfield Glazener Jones. In addition to his wife, Bea, he is survived by four children, 12 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.