Shirley Ledbetter Jones

Shirley Ledbetter Jones, Colonel (Ret) US Army, passed away on 6/1/2017. She was born June 25, 1938 in Bauxite, Arkansas, the daughter of Cecil Sherman and Mary Marie Ledbetter. She was predeceased by her parents and husband, Major General James H. "Jimmie Red" Jones. She is survived by her sons and wives, Bobby Dale Gentry (Dana) of Pine Bluff and Barry Lewis Gentry (Debra) of Redfield. She had five grandchildren: Jessie and William (Bodie) Drake, Brenna Gentry, Lindsay Romero, Bobby Lewis Gentry II and Shelby Grace Gentry. She has one great-grandchild, Timber Marie Drake. She had one sister, Barbara Medlin and one brother, Cecil Ledbetter. She wishes to recognize a special adopted sister, Nina White. She also wishes to express her appreciation to Dr. Steve and Clara Jones and Rory and Susie Howard for their continued support since the death of her husband, General Jones. A graduate of Bauxite High School in 1956, Arkansas Baptist Hospital School of Nursing, Little Rock, in 1959. She later graduated cum laude with a BA Degree from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock and earned a MA Degree in Health Sciences Administration from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri. Jones began her military career in July 1972 as a Medical Surgical Nurse with the 148th Evacuation Hospital, Arkansas Army National Guard and was reassigned as Head Nurse for the 148th. In 1986, Jones was promoted to State Chief Nurse STARC, Arkansas Army National Guard. In 1987 Colonel Jones became the first woman to command the 125th Medical Battalion in the Arkansas Army National Guard, a position she held until 1989. On July 20, 1989, Colonel Jones was appointed Chief Nurse of the Army National Guard in the Pentagon for a three year assignment. As Chief Nurse in the Pentagon, she had twenty-six hospitals, eighteen hundred registered nurses and twenty-two thousand enlisted medical personnel under her guidance. Colonel Jones is a veteran of two wars, "Operation Just Cause" and operation "Desert Shield/Desert Storm." Colonel Jones actively pursued her military education, graduating from the Officer Advance Course; the Command and General Staff College and a two year study in the National Security Management at the National Defense University, Washington, DC in 1988. Jones has earned the Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Order of the Military Medical Merit, National Guard Bureau Eagle Award, Meritorious Service Medal with second Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with first Oak Leaf Cluster, National defense Service Medal and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal. In 1996, Jones was nominated by William Jefferson Clinton, former President of the United States and confirmed in the United States Senate to serve as a member of the Board of Regents, Department of Defense, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland. The mission of the university is to train doctors, nurses and all key military medical personnel from all military services to serve in the military. As a Board Member serving as Advisor to the President of the United States on Military Medical readiness as it pertained to the University. Jones received the University's Exceptional Service Medal for her service to the Board of Regents. As a civilian, Colonel Jones worked with the Arkansas Department of Health in Little Rock, where she paralleled her military career. Beginning as a Staff Nurse, Nurse Supervisor, and finally Assistant Director, Division of Public Health Nursing. On her return to the Arkansas Department of Health in 1992 from her assignment in the Pentagon, she became the Chief Nursing Consultant for the Women, Infants and Children' Program. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. on Sunday June 4, 2017 at Ashby Funeral Home in Benton, Arkansas. Service will be at Ashby Funeral Home, in Benton, Arkansas at 10 a.m. on Monday June 5, 2017. Interment will be private for the immediate family (and pallbearers) in the Gentry section Rose Lawn Cemetery, Pine Bluff. Pallbearers will be Randy Kimball, Leon Scallion, Mike Hayes, Vernon Scallion, Bodie Drake, and Tommy Kelley. Honorary Pallbearer will be: Bobby Lewis Gentry I, and Bobby Lewis Gentry II. On line guestbook at ashbyfuneralhome.com.