Page 106 - PGM Compendium

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Of
M⸫W⸫ Alden H. Jones: 1975-1976

Most Worshipful Brother Alden H. Jones was born December 5,
1907, in the small Town of Winona, located in the foothills of the
Ozark Mountains of Missouri. There, as a small boy, he learned
an early and happy appreciation of Nature. Memories of his
boyhood take him back to polliwog ponds, tracking foxes and
rabbits in winter snow, searching for Indian artifacts and stone
paintings in the forest, skating three miles to school on ice-
encrusted snow—and digging roots for the healthy but awful-
tasting sassafras tea.

Life on a small farm with its many chores —herding cattle,
repairing fences, planting and harvesting gardens —all taught
young Alden Jones an early acceptance of the necessity of work. Both work and play were happily
balanced with an early appreciation and enthusiasm for school and learning, which became a pattern of
life.

After twelve years in Winona, the family moved to Snoqualmie Falls, where a daughter was born and the
father, Jack Jones, worked for Weyerhaeuser as an accountant. Nine years later the family moved to
Longview, where Weyerhaeuser had built a new sawmill. The father and all three sons completed working
careers for Weyerhaeuser Company.

After high school Alden attended technical school and learned to fly. He became a partner in a charter
flight business. In 1927, at the age of 19, he survived an airplane crash and gave up flying. Alden returned
to Longview and joined a survey crew for the Weyerhaeuser Company. Thereafter, promotions came as
Chief of Survey, Logging Engineer, Chief Engineer, and Logging Manager. Finally, in 1965, he was
assigned to Weyerhaeuser International Headquarters where he served as Resource Development Manager
until his retirement in 1973. He spent forty-seven years with the company. Alden was commissioned to
write a history of the company; entitled "From Jamestown to Coffin Rock," it covered the period from
1900 to 1964. Eight hundred sixty-three people were mentioned.

Alden H. Jones found his life partner, Dora Smith, on Smith Road at Toutle, Washington, and it was a
notable event, indeed, when "one of the Jones boys married one of the Smith girls" in 1934. From the
Smith Road at Toutle to the Jones Road at Kelso, they cherished, supported, and complemented each other
in a faithful and enduring marriage. Dora's poor health in later years consumed Alden's devoted attention.

Alden H. Jones joined Castle Rock Lodge No. 62 in 1945. but was not active until 1959 when he was

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