The 1940s
| Last name: | First name: | Relation: | Age: | Sex: | Place born: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jones | Kenneth | Head | 42 | M | Iowa | |
| Zita | Wife | 34 | F | Iowa | ||
| Maynard | Son | 17 | M | Iowa | ||
| Shirley | Daughter | 15 | F | Iowa | ||
| Helen | Daughter | 13 | F | Iowa | ||
| Climentine | Mother-in-Law | 69 | F | Iowa | ||
| Lived 4030 E. 28th Street, Des Moines, Iowa | ||||||
| Kenneth: Molder, Furnace Company | ||||||
| Zita: Inspector, Hosery Mill | ||||||
| Maynard: Graduated in June | ||||||
When Maynard was in high school, several of the boys, including Maynard, who were in the top 3% of their class academically formed an ad hoc group called ‘the dummy club’. The group participated in social activities together.
The Dummy Club, date and location unknown
Maynard is seated 3d from the left
Shirley, Maynard, and Helen Jones
Undated photo, probably early 1940s, unknown location
Zita, Maynard, and Kenneth Jones
Undated photo, probably early 1940s, unknown location
Shirley graduated from East High School on June 1943 and was later listed in a program for presentation of school caps from the School of Nursing, Broadlawns Polk County Hospital, Des Moines, Iowa, on 14 December 1943. She was a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps. She was among 25 other women who were apparently to graduate in 1946. She is shown in her uniform below on the left. The date and location of the photo is not known, nor is the identity of the person on the right.
Lt. Maynard Leroy Jones, United States Army Air Force
Probably 1943 upon graduation from navigator school
Lt. Maynard Jones posing with his grandmothers L-R:
Eva Hyde Jones; Clementine DeMoss Shutts
Probably summer/fall 1943, Location unknown
Notification of Maynard being missing in action.
Zita kept all of the letters that Maynard had written from the time he joined the service until after he returned home. She also kept a scrapbook covering his time in the military. After Maynard was declared missing, she kept in touch with several families of others on the ill-fated Marzy Doatz, including the pilot Edward F. Hautman, co-pilot Carroll G. Snidow, waist gunner John A. Tarbert, nose turret gunner Dale C. Maupin, and top turret gunner Thomas W. Land. Hautman and Tarbert did not survive.
Family legend has it that Zita consulted with a psychic on more than one occasion and was assured that Maynard was alive although injured.
Kenneth had a nervous breakdown later in January 1945 and for a while was at a clinic in Clear Lake, Iowa. Knowing that she could not handle the acreage by herself, the property on 28th Street was sold, and they moved to 2719 East Grand Avenue, a house one or both of them would occupy for nearly sixty years.
2719 East Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa
Zita and Helen Jones, probably January 1945
High school graduation photo, location unknown
(Maynard wrote that Helen graduated in June 1945.)
Helen trained as an x-ray technician at the Des Moines General Hospital. She later worked at the Osteopathic Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa.
On Mother’s Day, 1945, Maynard called home and spoke to his parents, and he returned home on 8 August 1945. As Zita wrote, “…oh, it was so good to have him home again.”
Maynard married Betty Lou Barkus, daughter of Louis A Barkus and Edith Laraway Bushnell, on 24 November 1946 in Des Moines. Their children included Kendra Lou, Marna Lynn, Jeffrey Lee, and Todd Linden. Maynard died on January 18, 1980.
The first of twelve grandchildren of Kenneth and Zita, Kendra Lou Jones, was born on September 15, 1948, in Des Moines, Iowa.
L-R: Zita Jones; Clementine Minerva Shutts, Helen Jones; Shirley Jones
Undated photo, probably mid-1940s