LeRoy 'Cobb' Jones, love of cars led to transportation career
LeRoy "Cobb" Jones Jr., who went from installing industrial refrigerators with his grandfather to driving people and goods up and down the East Coast, died of cancer Sunday. He was 67 and lived in Southwest Philadelphia.
LeRoy "Cobb" Jones Jr., who went from installing industrial refrigerators with his grandfather to driving people and goods up and down the East Coast, died of cancer Sunday. He was 67 and lived in Southwest Philadelphia.
He was born in South Philadelphia to LeRoy Jones Sr. and the former Mary Ellen Williamson. He attended Bok Vocational High School, then went to work with his grandfather, Charlie Jones.
He translated his love of driving to his transportation career. He also enjoyed working on cars. He was a dedicated sports fan, with a special love for the Eagles.
LeRoy married the "love of his life," Frances Evans, who later took the name Shukriyyah Ali, in 1963. He was a movie buff who enjoyed watching the latest action films.
He was a devoted member of the Mount Olive Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. He requested that the hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" be sung at his funeral:
What have I to dread, what have I to fear
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
LeRoy helped raise the children of his late friend, Bernice McCoy - Reggie, Cheryl and James McCoy, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Besides his wife, he is survived by two daughters, Erica Qualls and Nicole James; three brothers, James Williamson, Kenneth Jones and Mark Jones; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. He was predeceased by a brother, Richard "Ricky" Jones, and a sister, Cynthia Lynn Jones.
Services: 11 a.m. today at the Slater Funeral Home, 1426 Fitzwater St. Friends may call at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Northwood Cemetery, 15th and Haines streets.