James A. Jones, former president and owner of Royal Funeral Home, 'had a standard of excellence'

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- James A. Jones turned a childhood goal into a near-lifelong career in the funeral home business as the owner and chairman of Royal Funeral Home, the oldest black-owned business in North Alabama.

As the president and owner of the funeral home from 1967-2000 and later its chairman of the board, Jones fulfilled an ambition that began about the time he watched the embalming of a great-uncle through the keyhole of his grandfather's home.

Jones was 84 when he died on Aug. 8.

"When they came to perform the embalming process (on the great-uncle), he wasn't supposed to be" there, said Karen Jones Smith, a daughter, now the co-owner and president of Royal. "He remembered looking through the keyhole, and he was fascinated by the ability to restore and prepare a body."

Jones was 6 or 7 at the time, by his daughter's estimate. When he was 8, he accompanied his grandfather, the Rev. T.S. Blackburn, founder and pastor of Blackburn Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian Church, to the funeral home on Saturday afternoons.

His grandfather viewed Royal as "his headquarters," Jones said in a 2008 story in The Huntsville Times.

In those years, Royal was known as Royal Undertaking Company, its original name. It was located at 118 Holmes Ave. in downtown Huntsville.

Royal was a gathering spot on Saturdays, the traditional day for shopping. Downtown shoppers would buy merchandise, then go to Royal to drop off their shopping bags before doing more shopping.

"There was no confusion about things being misplaced," Jones said in the 2008 story in The Times. "Everything was so organized. Everything was in its place. I found that interesting."

Soon, he was off to World War II, serving in Japan. When he returned from war, he became the night attendant at Royal.

At the time, Royal was in the former home of Charles Binford, Royal's first owner and operator. Jones was the only employee at the home past midnight and into the hours before sunrise.

The toughest part was being in the building alone, Jones said in 2008.

"Your mind," he said, "went back to those people who used to come through the door."

He graduated from Alabama A&M in 1954, then went to Washington, D.C. for some graduate work at Howard University. He returned to Alabama to become the principal, math teacher and basketball coach at Douglass High School in Fort Payne.

Later, he taught at Councill High in Huntsville, along with Davis Hills Middle School and Grissom High School.

But his greatest impact in Huntsville was as the owner of Royal Funeral Home, located on Oakwood Avenue since 1972.

"What set him apart is that he had a standard of excellence," Karen Jones Smith said. "It was always there, regardless of background, race, educational level and regardless of financial ability to pay. He always stressed that if you did your best, that is what God required."

Something else that set him apart was that he also conducted burials for animals.

"He mentioned several stories (that) if an animal would die, he would conduct the funeral," said David Smith, Karen's husband and Royal vice president.

One of them was for Karen's dog, Binki.

"When I was 20, my father came home one day and found Binki at the edge of the driveway," she said. "My father knew I loved that dog. My father took the time to bring him to the funeral home. He prepared him, made a little coffin for my dog, and the dog is buried here now at the funeral home in the backyard."

Jones was married to the former Barbara LaVerne Hundley, his wife of 55 years.

His funeral will be today at 2:30 p.m. at Oakwood University Seventh-day Adventist Church. Burial will be at Meadowlawn Garden of Peace on Mt. Lebanon Road, the cemetery he and some longtime friends started.

"It is the largest minority-owned cemetery in North Alabama," Karen Jones Smith said. "Any infant a year and under, he would donate the grave space. That tradition does continue today."

Source: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/08/james_a_jones_former_president.html

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