Thomas Owen Jones

Thomas Owen (Tim) Jones, 87, of Blum, passed away Sunday morning, February 2, 2025, at his residence.

Celebration of Life Service: 10am Friday, February 7, 2025 with Pastor Linton Whittles officiating at Lake Shore Funeral Home, burial to follow at Oakwood Cemetery, Waco.

He was born June 24, 1937, in Houston, Texas, son of Thomas William and Mabel Marie Grimes Jones. Tim moved to Waco in 1952 and attended South Jr. and University High Schools. Tim was a teenage volunteer at the old Central Texas Zoo from 1956 to 1958. He worked for three years at the Fort Worth Zoo, caring for reptiles. Tim then returned to Waco in 1962 to work in the new reptile house as the Curator of Reptiles. He was the first paid zookeeper at the Central Texas Zoo. He worked at Houston’s Herman Park Zoo for three years as Supervisor of Reptiles and later at The Children’s Zoo. In 1965, Tim came back to Waco as the Zoo Director and served as such until 1967. Tim was the Zoo Director of Lufkin’s Ellen Trout Park Zoo for seven years, and while in Lufkin, he and his wife, Jerri, hosted a 30-minute weekly TV show called Zoo Review. It ran for 4 years, and they produced over 200 shows together. Tim returned to Waco in 1976 as Director of the Central Texas Zoo and later the Cameron Park Zoo. He was Zoo Director in Waco for 18 years, making a total of 34 years in the zoo business. When Tim retired from the Cameron Park Zoo, Waco proclaimed January 27th as Tim Jones day.

Tim completed Zoo Management School and Zoo Biology School in Wheeling, West Virginia, and the University of North Carolina. He visited some 100 zoos and aquariums in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and South America. He served on several national committees for the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums and inspected several zoos and wildlife ranches for AAZPA. Tim read several grant applications in 1988 for the Institute of Museum Services in Washington. He was a member of the Museum Association in Waco and served on the boards of Angelina County Humane Society, Texas Herpetological Society, Waco Humane Society, and was a member of the Lufkin and Waco Rotary Clubs for 25 years, maintaining perfect attendance. Tim was presented the key to the city of Houston, commissioned an Admiral in the Texas Navy, was given the title of Director Emeritus of Cameron Park Zoo in 2007, was in two different Who’s Who books, contributed information to authors, and is mentioned in seven major books on zoos and reptiles. Tim is one of only seven Zoo Directors in the Worldwide symposium.

In Tim’s exact words, “I had the good sense to marry Geraldine Cantrell in 1958, and it was the best thing I ever did. She gave me three children; Tommy, John, and Vickie. I am proud of all of them. From that, I also got three grandchildren; Jeffrey, Chelsie, and Colton, and three great grandchildren. I am very proud of all of them as well. Jerri always had the other end of everything I ever got a hold of. She was my strength.” After retirement, Tim worked with large nonvenomous water snakes in his private pond and made an educational video that had over 22 million views on the internet. That video educated many people on snakes and hopefully saved the lives of quite a few of our reptile friends. Tim wrote a book about his life in the zoo business titled Zoo Man that is full of wonderful stories about what an amazing life he lived. We, as his family, are so very proud of him and the legacy he has left behind for everyone to enjoy.

Tim is survived by his wife of 67 years, Geraldine Jones; three children, Tommy Jones, John Jones and Vickie Jones Kroll and husband James; grandchildren, Chelsie Van Hoose and husband Travis and Colton Sims; brother, Johnny Binder; cousins, Martha Bigham, Cathy Mefford, Della Moore, Daisy Joy, Marvin Grimes, Gary Grimes, and many others.

Special thanks to Tim’s dear friend, Pastor Linton Whittles, who flew from Oregon to do his service.

Another special thank you goes out to Dr. Randall Henderson and the wonderful people at Wings Over Texas Hospice; Chelsea, Stephanie, Tammy, Jaci, Josh, and Heather.

A legend may be gone, but his memory will never fade.

Place of Service: Lake Shore Funeral Home Chapel , 5201 Steinbeck Bend; Waco, TX 76708