At the age of 68 years old, the Rev. Alfred Jones died in Montgomery, Alabama, on Thursday, May 25.

MOULTRIE – A longtime Moultrie pastor and leader in local education and health care died May 25 in Montgomery, Ala.

The funeral service for the Rev. Alfred Jones will be held Monday, June 5, 2023 at 2 p.m. at Heritage Church in Moultrie. His family will hold a public visitation Sunday, June 4, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Luke Strong and Son Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, the family requests for donations to his favorite nonprofit organization, the Boys and Girl Club of Moultrie.

Jones is survived by his wife DaLaonne and their three adult children: daughter Selena Todd, eldest son Terrence and son Jonathan.

Born Jan. 21, 1955, Jones grew to be a leader within the local Christian community. He began his spiritual career as a music minister at Mother Easter Baptist Church.

Jones ministered through music for about 25 years at Mother Easter Baptist Church and later served at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in 2006 as an intern pastor, according to Jerome Walker, a current deacon at FMBC. After about one to two years the church voted and Jones accepted the position of pastor.

“He was very receptive to the church. He was a good family man. He always said before any decision prayer is necessary. He was a man of God and really faithful about what he was doing,” Walker said.

Cornelius Ponder, the pastor at The REAL Church in Moultrie, has known Jones for over 40 years.

He recalled first meeting him when he was a member of the Mother Easter Baptist Church choir.

“He was an awesome, great singer with a distinguished smooth tone voice. He was always friendly and had a pleasant welcoming warm-hearted personality. He was not only a great pastor, he was a great person first and foremost,” Ponder said by phone Tuesday. “He was a very well respected man with a heart for all people and children, saved or unsaved.”

About 329 members joined or rejoined the church under his leadership. With an ample dedication to progressing and growing the church, Jones worked with the congregation to improve its community relations and practices. They acquired two buses, paved the parking lot, established a youth Bible study program, began a summer feeding program and implemented several organizations within the church.

“When Pastor Jones first came here, it was just like a different atmosphere here at Friendship. He came in and it was just like he fitted in with this church. What he brought to this church, to me, was strength to our church, to build this church up and to make it one of the elite churches in Northwest Moultrie,” Deacon Chairman Frankie Peterson said. “That was his passion to move Friendship to another level.

Seven deacons were

ordained at the church under his leadership.

“He taught us what it was to be a deacon and what we needed to show not only in our church but also on our jobs and how we should present ourselves,” Peterson said.

He stepped down as pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in 2020 before the height of the pandemic due to illness. Walker said that touched him and spoke volumes about his character.

“He was just the type of pastor that it was just hard to let go,” Peterson said.

The deacons described Jones as a humble and giving man with a passion for the youth. They recalled the youth gathering to hug him as he concluded his sermons on Sundays.

Jones began the Hallelujah Festival on Halloween night for the church’s youth and local community members. They distributed bags filled with candy and reading material about the word of God.

Ponder explained that Jones was highly supportive of the initiation of the local Boys and Girls Club and was instrumental in the church’s participation in it.

He was a member of the Colquitt County Pastors Group and was very vital to the Colquitt County Ministerial Alliance.

“He always opened the doors of his church anytime we needed to meet there or have services. We always knew that we could go to Friendship if we couldn’t go anywhere else,” Ponder said.

He was always available at any time for those in need and taught the congregation about local outreach.

“He was a consistent man of faith. He lived the example. He didn’t just talk about it or sing it, he lived it as well. He was someone that we all as younger pastors could look up to,” Ponder concluded.

In addition to his pastoral duties, Jones was staff radiographer at Colquitt Regional Medical Center for 24 years.

During the last six years of that time, he was a part time radiologic technology instructor at Moultrie Technical College. Then, in 2001, he went full-time at Moultrie Tech.

Moultrie Tech merged with Southwestern Tech in Thomasville in 2015, and Jones continued as the radiologic technology program director until his retirement in 2018.

He was the school’s nominee for the state Rick Perkins Award for Excellence in Technical Instruction in 2012.

Jones earned a diploma in radiologic technology at Valdosta Technical College in 1974 and went on to gain an associate degree of applied science in radiologic technology from Valdosta State University (VSU) in 1992.

In 1994, he continued his education at VSU and earned a bachelor of science in education.

Jones added to his teaching credentials in 2010 by obtaining a master’s degree in education with a specialization in professional studies in education from Capella University out of Minneapolis, Minn.