In Memory of David Jones
Professor David/Dai Lloyd Jones passed away peacefully in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on August 30th, 2024, with his wife and family at his side. Dai was born in Totnes, England, on June 18th, 1936 to Elsie May and Edward George Jones. He married Barbara Whittaker in 1962 and they had two children, Claire and Malcolm. Starting as a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Dai eventually became Professor and Head of Physics as well as the Dean of Science. He was a strong advocate for racial equality within the university during a time of segregation. He participated in anti-discrimination demonstrations and raised funds that supported over 1200 black students to graduate in technical fields.
Dai was a people person, funny, kind, and curious. He loved to travel, play cricket, and spend quality time with family, friends, colleagues, and students.
David will be dearly missed by his beloved wife, Barbara, his children, Malcolm (Mandy) and Claire (Andy), his grandchildren Shaun, Anthony, Bronwyn, Hannah and Jono and his great-grandchildren Everleigh, Olivia, and Denver.
I remember how excited Barry (McKay) was when he learned that his best friend and co-conspirator from grammar school had moved to the Ottawa area. They started getting together often soon after, discussing their exploits together, sports achievements and their various masters and the headmaster at the grammar school. There was a lot to say about the eventual fates of some of the masters and the headmaster and some of the other students whose careers they followed through the school journal, the Old Totenesian.
Apparently at school, Barry and David had had quite the adventures together, some of them not to the liking of the masters and got punished for them, especially Barry. And David was a rebel right from the start. They also talked world politics and followed current sporting events together with great enthusiasm. But in the long view, both agreed that it was the grammar school experience that allowed them to live the successes that they had later in life.
Once we met them, David and Barbara were at every family event Barry held, Easter, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas as long as it was possible for them to drive into town. On a few occasions, they got very lost looking for Barry’s house. We visited them in Vars as often as possible. This continued until Barry died in 2015.