Walter H. Jones

Mr. Walter H. Jones, known affectionately to friends, family, and customers as ‘Jonesie’ or ‘Peeps’ passed away peacefully in his home in Watertown on Tuesday, December 10th, at the impressive age of 96.

Walter was born May 10th, 1928, in Waltham to John and Jennie Jones. He attended Waltham Public Schools, where he delighted in playing football. After graduating in 1946, Walter went to work at Stone Dairy as a milkman, where he met his wife, a spirited young bookkeeper named Beverly Gaines. The two were married in 1952 and moved three miles down Main Street to Watertown where they added a daughter, Cheryl, to their family.

After thirteen years at Stone Dairy, Walter joined HP Hood Dairy, where he spent the next thirty-seven years of his life delivering dairy products to the refrigerators and iceboxes of Waltham and Watertown residents, until his semi-retirement in 1990. After a brief respite, the road called to him, and he returned to the workforce, spending the next sixteen golden years transporting special needs children and adults around Waltham for Harrison Transportation.

While Walter was certainly hard-working, he made time for his family and his other passions. He could be seen coaching his grandsons from the stands at innumerable sporting events in and around Waltham, even living long enough to be able to do the same for his two great-grandsons. 

He had a passion for Boston sports, especially his Boston Red Sox, whether they were winning or losing. And Walter obsessed over gardening, which he actively engaged in as a congregant of Christ Church Episcopal in Waltham, and at his second home (and love) as a summer resident of Winnipesaukee Beach Colony Club in Meredith, New Hampshire where he meticulously cleaned the woods.

Walter is survived by his wife Beverly, daughter Cheryl King, son-in-law Ken, grandsons Kristopher and Kevin, and great-grandsons Lawson and Sawyer. 

In death, he will join siblings Gladys, Frank, Blanche, and Ernest.

Family and friends will honor and remember Walter’s life by gathering for a Morning Wake from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 14th in Christ Church Episcopal, 750 Main Street, Waltham followed by his Funeral Service at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made in Walter’s name to the William Lawrence Camp, 35 Center Street, No. 177, Wolfeboro Falls, NH, 03896, where he worked as a camp counselor many years ago.