William McMichael Jones was just known as "Mike" to his friends and will be remembered as a man who enjoyed having those friends over for dinner served with the utmost panache.
"Mike was an exceptional cook," recalled David Purnell of Ligonier. "But there was such aura about his presentation. Everything was so beautifully done, you hated to eat the food."
Mr. Jones, 75, of Ligonier, died Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008. He served as president of the Tribune-Review Publishing Co. from 1983 until 1988.
His pastor, Monsignor William C. Charnoki, of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Ligonier, said he was a "friendly, kind person. He was a gentle person" who was a regular at Mass.
Born Jan. 12, 1933, in Pittsburgh, Mr. Jones was a grandson of one of the founders of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., Benjamin Franklin Jones, a titans o the steel industry in the mid- to late 1800s.
Mr. Jones lived in Pittsburgh most of his life, but when he moved to the Ligonier Valley about 25 years ago, he found a real home, said Purnell, who had been his friend for 30 years. "He loved the place."
Purnell got to know the quality of Mr. Jones' cuisine when both became single after their divorces.
"There were four of us, all friends, and we used to rotate on a weekly basis for an evening meal," Purnell said.
Mr. Jones prepared "a wonderful array of things," said Purnell, adding that occasionally the meals were made-up, experimental affairs.
"Sometimes we were his guinea pigs," Purnell laughed.
But the presentation of the dinners was always memorable.
"They were magnificent," he said.
A sense of style was a Jones trademark.
Before moving to town, Mr. Jones purchased and renovated an old farmhouse on the outskirts of town.
"I remember what he did with the walls in the bedroom," Purnell said.
Instead of a conventional wall covering, he opted for gray flannel.
"He had an eye for the unique," Purnell remembered, "And of course, he was a splendid dresser. That caught my attention. He taught me a lot."
Purnell is the owner of the Post & Rail Men's Shop, on the Diamond in Ligonier.
Mr. Jones was a voracious reader, according to his friend, with a wide variety of literary interests. He especially enjoyed the mystery genre, Purnell said.
Dropping in on him late on an afternoon, Purnell frequently found his friend absorbed in a book.
"He would be sitting by the bay window," Purnell recalled.
Charles Fagan III of Ligonier knew Mr. Jones as an older boy from childhood days in Pittsburgh. In more recent years, Fagan would catch a glimpse of him worshipping at Holy Trinity.
"He was a cradle Catholic," Fagan said of his longtime acquaintance.
Marc Robertshaw of Ligonier said his parents, Jack and Anne Robertshaw, socialized with Mr. Jones during most of their adult lives.
"I grew up with Mike's children," Robertshaw said. "His daughter, Blythe, went to Georgetown (University) with me.
Mr. Jones "was very understated and very amusing," Robertshaw recalled. "You always looked forward to talking to Mike because he was so amusing."
"Every Sunday we looked forward to seeing him at church. He will be sorely missed."
Blythe Jones Lyons of Washington, one of three Jones children, seconded Purnell's estimation of her father's culinary abilities, "He especially liked to prepare the Christmas Eve meal. It was always so wonderful, with wonderful colors and flavors," Lyons said.
"He was a happy guy," Lyons said of her father. "He was generous when he was rich and he was generous when he had less.
"He loved flowers and his garden and books. He loved nothing better than sitting in his garden reading his books."
In addition to Lyons, Jones is survived by two sons, William McMichael Jones Jr. and Christopher Curran Jones, both of Pittsburgh; and four grandchildren.
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
