E. GARDNER JONES, age 91, of Hingham, died on Sunday, April 9th at the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth after a brief illness. Mr. Jones was born in Hingham and was a lifelong resident of the town. For 50 years, he was the well known funeral director and owner of the Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel in Hingham, retiring 20 years ago. For over 60 years he served as Chaplain of the Hingham Fire Department and was made Honorary Chief by Hingham Fire Chief Mark Duff at a celebration on Sept. 11th, 2005 in recognition of his years of service to the department. Since the World War II years he was proud to serve the Town of Hingham as a special police officer. Mr. Jones was an active member of Old Colony Masonic Lodge in Hingham and held a number of masonic offices and received many honors statewide from the fraternity. He recently retired as a Justice of the Peace, a position he held for over 30 years, during which time he performed over 3000 marriages.
He leaves his wife of 68 years, Geraldine C. (Hatch) Jones of Hingham; his son Edward G. Jones of Hingham; his daughter, Blanche L. Whitman of Cohasset; 9 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
A Memorial Service will be conducted on Thursday, April 13th at 12 Noon at the Hingham Congregational Church, 378 Main St., Hingham.
Visiting hours and flowers are omitted by request. Rather than flowers, donations in his memory would be appreciated to the Hingham Firefighters' Association, 339 Main St., Hingham, MA 02043.
The interment in the High Street Cemetery in Hingham is to be private.