James Jeff Jones

James Jeff Jones passed away peacefully in his home on February 2, 2026.

Jeff was born in Hailey on April 27, 1932, to James Jefferson Jones, also born in Hailey, and Velva Shirts. His sister Shirley was born five years later, and the two had a wonderful childhood living in small town America. Dad shared numerous stories of growing up in a different time, when ice was delivered by horse and wagon and the roads were unpaved. He liked to climb to the top of the pine tree in their yard, higher than the roof top. He loved to watch Tarzan movies at the Liberty Theater, which cost 10 cents. When The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, he was amazed, along with the entire audience, at the very first showing of a color movie. He and his family loved to go fishing throughout the area, along with his dog Pudgy. They picked raspberries by their garage, and chokecherries out west. He often would walk down to his dad’s barbershop next to The Mint and sometimes would shine shoes out front for 25 cents.

Dad obtained a driver’s license at the age of 13. His first job, at age 14, was sweeping up at the JC Penney store, for 35 cents an hour. At the age of 15 he worked as a dishwasher at the Christiana in the summer, making $1 an hour, working 7 hours a day, 7 days a week. While in his young teens, he and his good friends formed the Jolly Boys Club. Billy Burke, Richard Allen, Carl Faulk, Marc Patterson, Lynn Rainey and others had loads of fun and misadventures, some involving dynamite, firearms, or beer. They remained lifelong friends. Dad was on the high school debate team, played trumpet in the school band, and drums in a dance band. He loved to ski on Baldy, or hike up Carbonate and ski down with friends. He graduated from Hailey High School in 1950.

Dad attended Idaho State in 1950, majoring in music, before switching to geology after a year. In 1953, he enlisted in the army and attended basic training in Fort Ord. He was then assigned to the First Infantry Division and was stationed in Wurtzburg Germany. The ocean crossing took 11 days, but after only three weeks in Germany, he bought his dream car-a dark green MG for $1750. He told us endless stories of driving around Europe, seeing incredible sights and meeting fascinating people. While in Wurtzburg, he met his future wife Helga, on her birthday. After much dancing and dating, they got engaged. Dad was then shipped back to Fort Riley Kansas for 9 months, but had to return to Germany to get married. After a few months more in Kansas, dad returned to ISU with mom, and two years later, graduated in 1958.

After moving back to his hometown of Hailey, dad worked in Stanley for the summer before getting a job in Salt Lake City and starting his life as an exploration geologist. He had to travel extensively, working out of Ely, Nevada, and spent three months in Nome, Alaska. Dad then worked for four years at Hercules Power Company as a quality control engineer when they were developing the Polaris and Minuteman missiles. He then accepted a job with ASARCO, moving the family to Knoxville, TN. After two years in TN, the family moved to Spokane, where he again traveled often, working out of Northern California, Montana, Washington, and Oregon. It was during this time that he signed up his three kids for ski lessons on Mt. Spokane, where they enjoyed skiing with their dad. After four years, he heard of a position opening up for a geologist in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and moved the family to Hailey in 1973. Dad worked for the Forest Service for 17 years. His work included examining mining claims, some that were 100 years old. He retired in 1990.

Living and raising his family in his hometown was dad’s dream come true. From skiing with his three kids on Baldy, or on the back of Galena with mom as the shuttle driver, memories were made. He would build us ice skating rinks in our back yard, and take us fishing, often with our grandparents. He would take us on family trips to Yellowstone, Virginia City, and Boulder City. His Christmas drinks are a family tradition. Dad was very proud that not only his three children graduated from High School in Hailey, just as he had and his father before him, but his two grandchildren as well. His extensive knowledge of the area gave us all a deep appreciation and love for exploring back roads and ghost towns. His geology training enabled us to learn what rocks we were looking at, or why one mountain looked so strange. Wherever we lived, dad took us exploring and would explain what we were looking at and why it was there. Later, his stories were amazing-what he could recall from decades earlier, from times long ago. His wealth of knowledge, insight, and history was incredible, and will be deeply missed.

Jeff is survived by his daughters Karin (Jeff) Lyttle, Sherry (Chuck) Archer, granddaughter Amy (Ben) Rivkin, grandson Jed (Kate) Lyttle, great grandsons Archer and Miles Rivkin, Wyatt Lyttle; sister Shirley (Hayward) Wride, nephews and one niece and families. He was proceeded in death by his parents, numerous aunts and uncles, wife Helga, son Jeff, both son in laws, and brother-in-law.

The family would like to express sincere gratitude to Maura, Sarah, and Melissa, whose presence made all of our lives easier, and David from Hospice.

We love you, dad.