of Little Rock, AR

July 29, 1937 - April 28, 2021

Wray H. Jones was born in Batesville, Arkansas in 1937, the son of a feed store manager and teacher. In 1955, he graduated as the valedictorian from Batesville High School. With a natural talent for science and an affinity for solving problems, he went on to receive a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1960. After graduating, he went to work for Conoco in Oklahoma and Texas. While in Lubbock, Texas he met and married Joy Darden, his wife of 54 years. The couple moved north in 1968 when Wray took a job with Union Carbide in New York City. During the five years he served with the company, he traveled the world negotiating international agreements for the purchasing of chemicals. He went on to work for Esselen Associates in Darien, Connecticut for twelve years as a Vice President responsible for buying and selling petroleum products internationally. In 1988, he moved back home to Arkansas with his family and eventually obtained the most fulfilling job of his life when he began teaching chemistry in 1994 at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. He would teach there for 26 years before retiring as an assistant professor in 2019.

A lifelong Methodist, he was active at St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock. Through the 1980s, he was active in the Boy Scouts and Kiwanis. He also enjoyed doing genealogy, working with computers, and watching and reading mysteries.

He is survived by his wife, Joy Jones; a son, Warren H. Jones; a daughter, Kathy Jones; a brother, Cleveland M. Jones (Susie); and seven nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; Hadley and Doris Wray Jones; and a sister, Janis Jones Hill.

Memorial service to be held at St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock on Saturday, May 15th at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Arkansas Food Bank, Henderson State University, Lifequest of Arkansas, or St. James United Methodist Church. For those who cannot attend the service in person, the memorial will be streamed on the church website at www.stjameslr.org and the church's Facebook live page at https://www.facebook.com/stjameslr.

Services provided by Roller-Chenal Funeral Home.

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