Donald P. Jones, 66; managed sporting-goods store

Donald P. Jones, 66, formerly of Bellmawr, a retired sporting-goods store manager, died of lung cancer Wednesday, Oct. 26, at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Fla.

He had lived in Winter Haven, Fla., since 2010.

Born in Audubon, Mr. Jones graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden in 1969 and served as a Marine infantryman until 1972, including three months in Vietnam.

Upon his military discharge, he went to work for Bristow's Sporting Goods in Westmont and became a manager, until leaving in the 1990s, his wife, Donna, said.

Until 2010, Mr. Jones was a warehouse supervisor in Bellmawr for Haddonstone Ltd., a distributor of large garden ornaments, his wife said. They married in 2006.

She noted that, after his children were born in 1976 and 1979, Mr. Jones and his first wife soon separated and later divorced.

So from the early 1980s, Donna said, "he was a single father, who raised two girls alone."

Frank Crosson, a former softball coach for girls' teams at Gloucester Catholic High School in the 1980s, recalled that as a fellow coach, Mr. Jones was "remarkable."

"He was very calm about all the games," Crosson said. "He reminded me of Charlie Manuel," the usually unruffled Phillies manager.

Mr. Jones was not a coach on the field or in the dugout, Crosson said, but "the behind-the-scenes coach. He kept the books."

As a Catholic deacon at St. Mary's Church in Gloucester City, Crosson will lead the prayer service for Mr. Jones at McCann-Healey Funeral Home.

Besides his wife, Mr. Jones is survived by daughters Donna Sewell and Roberta Ripp, stepsons Timothy and Sean Smith, and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his former wife, Roberta.

A visitation was set from 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Nov. 26, at McCann-Healey Funeral Home, 851 Monmouth St., Gloucester City, before a noon prayer service there, with Marine honors.

Donations may be sent to www.fisherhouse.org.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccannhealey.com.

wnaedele@phillynews.com610-313-8134@WNaedele