Sutter
County
Biographies
HUGH PRYCE JONES
Hugh
Pryce Jones, who is a leading funeral director of Sutter county, having at Yuba
City one of the most modern mortuary establishments in the Sacramento Valley,
was born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, on the 4th of
February, 1898, and is a son of Rev. and Mrs. E. H. Jones, who brought their
family to California when their son Hugh was but a young child. The father was accidentally killed in Oakland
about thirty years ago, and the mother now resides in San Francisco. Upon the death of her husband she was left
with six children and no means of support, but she courageously took up the
burden and reared her children to respectable manhood and womanhood.
Hugh
P. Jones was reared in Oakland where he attended the public schools. Confronted with the necessity of earning his
living at an age when most boys are securing an education, he chose the
undertaking business. At fourteen years
of age he went to work for the Truman Undertaking Company and later entered the
Worthman College of Embalming at Berkeley, from which
he was graduated at the age of eighteen years.
He became associated with an undertaking firm at Piedmont, Alameda county, and also served for five years as a deputy coroner
of that county. Later he went to
Sacramento, where he was employed at undertaking work, and in 1925 went to
Marysville, where in partnership with Bert M. Ullery,
he established the undertaking firm of Jones and Ullery. Two years ago Mr. Jones bought out his
partner and, coming to Yuba City, established the Jones Funeral Home. Marked success has attended his efforts
here. He has enlarged his establishment
and made valuable improvements, making it strictly first class in all of its
appointments. He has a full motorized
equipment of ambulances, hearses and service cars, employs a lady attendant,
and his establishment includes not only a reception room, but also a neat and attractive
chapel. Mr. Jones has served very
creditably as deputy coroner of Sutter County for several years and is still
filling that position. He has made
judicious investment in Sutter County, including besides his funeral home,
other Yuba City property and the commodious residence which he built on the
Colusa Highway, at the corner of Gray Street. On
May 14, 1927, in Sacramento, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Mrs. Inez
Moore, and they have a daughter, June Irene.
Mr. Jones is a Republican in his political views, though he aims to vote
for the candidates whom he considers best qualified for the offices they seek,
regardless of party lines. He has been a
member of the city council of Yuba City since 1928 and is chairman of the fire
and sanitary committees. He belongs to
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Marysville, and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Pythias Sisters and the Daughters of Rebekah
at Yuba City. He organized the Kiwanis
Club here and was its first president, and is an active member of the American
Legion at Marysville. He assisted in
organizing the Legion post at Oakland and served as it’s vice commander. He also belongs to the Sons of St. George,
the Lake Merritt Club and the Lucerne Country Club of Lake county. He is affiliated with the Professional
Embalmers of San Francisco and is regarded as an expert in that exacting line
of work. Mrs. Jones is a past noble
grand of the Daughters of Rebekah and is president of
the Ladies of Woodcraft.
Mr.
Jones is a veteran of the World War, having enlisted at Oakland in the automobile
unit at the University of California. He
was soon placed in command of the sanitary department was later commissioned a
second lieutenant and eventually was transferred to Fort McDonald, where he had
charge of all embalming. He continued to
serve there until the close of the war, and was honorably discharged at the
Presidio, San Francisco. He has shown a
keen interest in everything relating to the welfare of his city and county, and
is regarded by his fellowmen as one of Yuba City’s substantial residents.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 66-67. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Sutter County
Biographies