Jennings and Rebecca Jones
Jennings A. Jones was born in 1909 in Del Rio, Tennessee, a small community near Newport in Cocke County. Rebecca Jones is a native of Murfreesboro. Her family has lived in Rutherford County for generations (her great-grandfather was a medical officer in the Civil War).

Rebecca and Jennings Jones

After graduating from high school at age sixteen, Mr. Jones pursued study in electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, graduating in 1931. He and his wife, Rebecca, met in January, 1937 and were married that June 3rd . After working as an electrical engineer with the Tennessee Electrical Power, first in Cleveland, and later in Murfreesboro, the budding entrepreneur opened Jones Locker and Cold Storage in 1939. In 1941, he was called to active duty in the Army and eventually attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1946, Jones became chair of the Murfreesboro Planning Commission and served until 1950. In 1948, Governor Gordon Browning appointed him to the Tennessee State Planning Commission, a body he would later chair.

From 1950-1954, Mr. Jones served as the mayor of Murfreesboro. He was the visionary behind several roadway additions in Murfreesboro. "Good planning will save a city millions and millions of dollars," he once said. Mr. Jones was also influential in the development of Mitchell-Neilson Primary and Elementary Schools (which are separated, not coincidentally, by Jones Boulevard) as well as Hobgood, Bradley and Bellwood schools.

While raising four children, Mrs. Jones became active in gardening and neighborhood beautification projects. She planted flowers and shrubs and arranged for trees to be planted. Many of these trees that were planted during these projects are still standing and flourishing.

About ten years ago, the couple founded the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Foundation to help others, especially the children in Rutherford County. The idea of computers in the classroom was new and they donated one computer to four local schools. Mr. Jones got involved in helping the one-room country school he had attended in Del Rio (in the Appalachian Mountains) by donating money for a long-distance learning center and library.

When McFadden Elementary School established a magnet program with emphasis on Communication Arts through Technology, the Joneses gave a $50,000 donation to install a high-tech broadcasting lab. Currently they are involved with the new Discovery Center where children will learn about the natural wetlands, among other things, at the Children's Discovery House.

The couple has also funded a business academy called Corporate Connections. The objective of the Academy is to assist K-12 educators learn more about the business community in order to help students be better prepared for the workplace.

Jennings A. Jones' financial support over the years to Middle Tennessee State University has made possible the Jennings A. Jones Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise and the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Chair of Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning. Their continued support is reflected in the establishment of the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Foundation Academy for Teachers of Gifted Students. Also at MTSU is the Center for Economic Education (CEE) that is funded through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Jones. The mission of the CEE is to support the efforts of K-12 teachers to improve the quality of economics instruction and learning by conducting workshops and providing (free) curriculum programs and materials.

Former M.T.S.U. president James Walker stated about Mr. and Mrs. Jones, "Beyond M.T.S.U., their investment in education has quite literally raised the bar on the quality of life for thousands of children, young individuals and older citizens who have lived and worked right here at home in middle Tennessee. Imagine how many lives these middle Tennesseans have, in turn, touched across the globe and across generations."

(Daily News Journal, May 7, 1999 and April 15, 2001)