Norvin Terry Jones

Norvin T. Jones was born February 22, 1924 in the little town of Hickory Ridge, Arkansas. There wasn’t much to Hickory Ridge in those days. He worked on his Dad’s rice farm until WWII broke out, and he immediately volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He piloted a C47 troop carrier transport in Italy and the Mediterranean where he evacuated wounded from front lines, towed gliders used for invasion forces, dropped parachute supplies to the Yugoslav partisans behind enemy lines, and dropped paratroopers. Norvin received a military decoration for meritorious achievement – the Air Medal with the traditional oak leaf cluster.

God did a work in Norvin’s heart as he witnessed the war. Upon arrival home, Norvin attended Ouachita Baptist University and Dallas Theological Seminary. He asked God for a wife to travel life’s road with, and as he was leaving the Library one day, he held the door for a young freshman student named Betty Jo Grimes. The two were married for 73 years. Norvin was ordained in 1946 and his first sermon was preached there on Mother’s Day 1946. Dad always said “yes” when he was called to preach. He never knew where a call might come from and he pastored in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Illinois. He taught in Bible Colleges in Tennessee, Canada, and Missouri.

The day of Norvin’s passing from this life, November 19th, 2021 was the best day of Norvin’s life. He met his Savior, Jesus, that day – and met up with his dear wife, Betty Jo, who died 12 days earlier, and his daughter Terry Lynn, who died when she was 9 years old.

Norvin will be missed by his five children: Rebecca, Nancy, Paul, Gracia, and Mary.

Funeral services will be 10:00 am Tuesday, November 23, at the Rose Hill Bible Church, with visitation beginning at 9:00 am. Interment will follow in the Friends Cemetery.

A memorial has been established with the Ibaloi Translation Fund, Philippines, at Ethnos 360, 312 W. First St., Sanford, FL 32771.