Donald Alan Jones
Donald Alan Jones of Castro Valley died July 12 after a 20-year battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was 78.
Born in Evansville, Indiana to Valada and Walter Jones, the family moved to California and settled in Castro Valley when Jones was in fourth grade. He graduated from Hayward High School in 1957, received an associate degree and continued his studies at San Jose State.
Jones married Kathleen Livanos, his high-school sweetheart, and grew their family with the births of son, David, and daughter, Amy. He enjoyed traveling with his family, whether it be a weekend jaunt of camping, boating, off-roading, skiing or traveling across country or across continents. He considered his greatest achievement to be the establishment of a warm and welcoming home for his children, their friends, family and several exchange students. He treasured the experiences and the individual connection he had with each of his grandchildren.
After several years working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a linear accelerator operator, he began his career with IBM in 1967 where he remained for 26 years enjoying being at the forefront of computer technology. After retiring from IBM, he started his own technical support business and later did desktop support for Barclays Global Investors. During the last 16 years Jones and his steadfast friend, Charles Koehler, took pride in providing on-site photos for the San Francisco region of Sports Car Club of America.
Jones loved connecting with people, young and old, from every walk of life. He enjoyed mentoring the young, encouraging them to set goals and get an education or training. He could always find a shared experience to establish a commonality. He enjoyed a challenge and prided himself on being able to find or contrive a solution to almost any problem.
Jones is survived by his wife of 56 years, Kathleen Jones; son, David A Jones (m. Katherine) of Forest Hill, California; daughter, Miriam (Amy) Lesico (m. David) of Danville, California; grandchildren, Nicole (Jones) Schichtel (m. Tom), Daniel Jones, Sophie Lesico and Reese Lesico; sister, Connie Val Haman (m. Richard) of Bismark, North Dakota; one niece, nine nephews and several grand nieces and nephews.
The family is planning a celebration of Jones’ life to be held in the fall. Donations in his memory can be directed to UCSF Foundation, P.O. Box 45339, San Francisco, California, 94145-0339 with the designation that the gift is in memory of Donald Jones to support Dr. Rahul Aggarwal, genitourinary medical oncology. You can also give online by visiting the web, click "direct your gift," then type the designation in the "other" box.
