Leland Worcestor Jones, MD FACS, 88, of Vero Beach, FL died Thursday, April 3, 2008 at his home.
Dr. Jones was born January 28, 1920 in Providence, RI and was a winter visitor to Vero Beach since 1998 moving here full time in 2003 from Warwick, RI.
He had a private practice in the Warwick, Rhode Island Area and was a veteran of WW II serving in the U.S. Navy as a Flight Surgeon. He was a graduate of the Cranston School in Rhode Island and both Brown University and Yale University College of Medicine. In 1954 he founded and directed the first catheterization laboratory in Rhode Island at Miriam Hospital then performed the first successful open heart operation in New England in 1955. As the Assistant to the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at National J. H. in Denver, CO where he assisted in the worlds third open heart surgery. He founded the Division of Cardiac, Thoracic & Vascular Surgery and the second center for open heart surgery at St. Josephs Hospital where he was elected president of the medical staff and appointed as a trustee. He then co-founded the Rhode Island Interagency Council on Smoking & Health. His memberships include sixteen national professional societies and he was inducted into the City of Cranston Hall of Fame. From 1992-1998 he co-owned and operated Jones Moving & Storage, a one hundred year old company started by his grandfather and run by his late father and brother. He was a member of the Rotary Club in Providence where he received two Paul Harris awards, past member of the Rhode Island Country Club, Barrington and East Greenwich Yacht Clubs, and the Brown Faculty Club. He was a current member of the Vero Beach Yacht Club.
Survivors include his wife Barbara B. Jones of Vero Beach; daughters Sharon Gordon of Lancaster, PA, Darryl Jones of California, Cynthia Jones of California, Stephanie Jones Landrater, MD of Williston, VT and Elizabeth Jones of Massachusetts; sons Leland W. Jones, Jr. of Hope, RI, David Jones of Hilton head, SC, Phillip C. Jones of Tokyo, Japan, Stephen Jones of New Hampshire and Everett R. Jones of North Kingston, RI; step-sons Richard G. Anderson of Tampa, FL and Jack D. Anderson of Colorado; thirteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Dr. Jones was predeceased by his first wife Anice Lynette Garmany Jones and son Richard Jones.
Services: A memorial celebration will take place 11 AM, Thursday, April 10, 2008 at Christ By the Sea United Methodist Church in Vero Beach.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association.
Arrangements are under the direction of Cox-Gifford-Seawinds Funeral Home and Crematory, Vero Beach, Florida. Condolences may be sent through www.seawindsfh.com/obit.php.