Captain Floyd Edward "Buddy" Jones, Jr., beloved husband, father, uncle, and grandfather, left us to continue his flight to Heaven on March 15, 2026. 

Floyd was born on October 8, 1955, to salt-of-the-earth Eastern North Carolina folks, Floyd Edward Jones, Sr. and Mary Howell Jones. He grew up with his sister Gayle and brother Joey, hanging from rafters in tobacco warehouses, harvesting watermelons, setting concrete, and learning how to smoke pork of all kinds. He attended Rosewood High School and married the local beauty Theresa Vest in 1974. He subsequently attended Lenoir Community College, where he took an Associate's Degree in Career Pilot Technology, and with the loving support of his wife, obtained his private pilot's license and began a long and distinguished career in modern aviation. He began his career at the local commuter Sunbird Airlines, and then was hired at Piedmont Airlines in 1985. He progressed through Piedmont's acquisition by USAirways and ultimately stayed on board as a Captain at American Airlines.

In 1982, Floyd and Terrie welcomed their first daughter, Lindsay, followed by Katherine in 1986 and Benjamin in 1990. He was immensely proud of all three of them, and was dearly loved by them.

Floyd followed his instincts for rapid motion, aviation, mechanical ingenuity, and technical skill all the way through 35 years of flying progressively more advanced aircraft. He held type ratings in 5 separate aircraft and at the age of 60 decided to type rate on the largest plane available to him at the time, which was the Airbus 330. He spent his last years flying internationally, and retired shortly after the COVID epidemic caused the grounding of many of the American fleet.

In the last 18 months prior to his passing, Floyd spent time with his family in places as wide ranging as Alaska, Hawaii, Croatia, and Australia. He is survived by his wife Terrie, his children Lindsay, Kathy, and Ben, his grandson Liam, his sister Gayle, his nieces Jennifer and Mary, his sister-in-law Carol, his brother-in-law Ron, and all of the wives, husbands, children, and cousins of his extended and extremely loving family.

Blue skies, white puffy clouds, tailwinds, and a few interesting thunderstorms to tangle with to you, dear Daddy. You are beloved and you will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to his charity of choice, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, at the following link.

https://fundraising.stjude.or…

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