Edmund Jones

Edmund Jones of Swarthmore passed away on September 14, 2019 at the age of 101.

Ed was born on April 15, 1918 in Chester, Penna to the late Henry Walter Jones and Margaret Witmer Jones. In 1930 the family moved to Swarthmore. He graduated from Swarthmore High School (1935), Swarthmore College (1939), and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1942). In 1941 he married Adalyn F. Purdy (Lyn). They were married for 72 years until she passed in 2013.

Drafted in 1942, Ed served in the U.S. Army. After his discharge in 1946 as a Captain, he joined his father’s law firm, Jones and Jones, in Chester. They also started two financial institutions, The Industrial Savings and Loan Association and the First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Chester (merged into the Bryn Mawr Trust Company in 2010).

Ed served the area as Mayor of Swarthmore (1966-1971), Pennsylvania State Representative (1971-1974), and as a member of the Swarthmore Borough Authority (1985-1989; chair, 1989), Delaware County Council (1987-1988), and the Board of SEPTA (1989-1996).

He was a member of the Delaware County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations, the Rotary Club of Swarthmore and Chester. He helped found the Swarthmore Centennial Foundation, serving as its chairman from 1993-2012.

In memory of their deceased son, Edmund A. “Ted” Jones, in 1964 Ed and Lyn established the Edmund A. Jones Memorial Scholarship for graduates of Pennsylvania high schools.

Ed loved to travel. He visited seven continents, hiked to the high points in every state except Alaska and compiled a lifetime bird list of almost 1,000 birds.

Ed is survived by his second wife, Donna Kay Jones; daughters Linda Jones McKee (Richard Carey), Eleta Ann Jones (David S. Thompson), Nancy Elizabeth Jones (David W. Requarth), stepdaughter Lisa Croddy; grandchildren Guian A. McKee, Colin B. McKee, Liana Thompson Knight, Jared J. Thompson, Stephanie E. Ellis, Jillian J. Ellis; step-grandson, Ted Croddy; and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Henry Walter Jones, Jr.

The family is grateful to Paulette Edwards, Sherly Biassou, and his other caregivers from Bayada Home Health Care for their loving care and to the nurses at Hospice Residence at Taylor Hospital for their comfort during his last days.

A memorial service to celebrate Ed’s life will be held at the Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse on November 9, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. As an alternative to flowers, donations in his memory may be sent to the Swarthmore Friends Meeting, 12 Whittier Place, Swarthmore, PA 19081 or to the Swarthmore Centennial Foundation, P.O. Box 493, Swarthmore, PA 19081.