Local man credits long life to hard work and faith in God
Clarence Jones, 94, of the Sugar Valley area just north of Calhoun, gives all the credit for his almost 95 years here on Earth to his faith in God.
Clarence was born in Calhoun on July 13, 1921 to Richard F. Jones and Betsy May ( Williams). When he turned five, his family moved to a farm near the Sugar Valley area. Along with his 11 siblings, eight sisters and three brothers, he grew up poor as most people in those days did. His father was a farmer and his mother had a full time job just trying to take care of the 12 kids in the family.
Tough times meant hard work as Jones was growing up during the Great Depression of the late 1920’s to 1939. By the age of seven, he began plowing in the fields behind a team of horses and by the age of 14, he was plowing 100 rows, each ¼ of a mile long for 25 total miles, from sunup to sundown each day.
Around the age of 14, Jones became interested in church and began attending Sugar Valley Baptist Church with his father. By the age of 17, he started walking to Sugar Valley Church of God, which was located about five miles from his home. His father didn’t approve of him attending a non- Baptist church and would keep him working until after dark on church nights. This didn’t stop a determined Jones, as he would walk the five miles to and from church in the dark still in his plowing clothes.
Jones was drafted by the U. S. Army in 1942 and served in World War II with the Howitzer Brigade. He was discharged in 1945 and a year later he was called to preach.
In 1946, Jones preached his first sermon at Hall Memorial Baptist Church in Sugar Valley. Four years later, he joined the Calhoun Prayer Band and traveled to individual houses to preach the gospel to ones who couldn’t attend church.
Jones worked from 1971 – 1977 at the old Echota Cotton Mill and in 1978 he went to work at Carters Lake for the Forestry Service. As age began to catch up with Jones, he had to slow down, as he wasn’t able to do the work he once could. He loved to garden and was well known in the area as the one to go to if you had any questions about gardening.
In 2010, Jones was invited to Dalton Free Holiness Church by a lady he now calls his guardian angel. Sister Janice Pendergrass was delivering potato soup that day to a friend and the Lord spoke to her, telling her to ‘ STOP!’ which she did and it just happened to be in front of Clarence Jones’ house. She knocked on the door and asked if Jones would like some potato soup; he gladly accepted and Sister Janice invited him to church and he agreed. The third night he attended church, Jones received the Holy Ghost on May 30, 2010 and he has been a new man since that day.
During revival last August at Dalton Free Holiness Church, Jones was eating lunch when someone noticed he had a blank stare and asked if he was feeling well. He slumped down in his chair and was helped to the floor and all the brothers and sisters from the church began praying over him and laying hands on him. Everyone at the scene thought he had died; his color changed from green to blue as the ambulance was called. Jones was taken to Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton and regained consciousness while being taken into the hospital on the stretcher. The EMT’s that worked on Jones in the ambulance said they had never seen anyone come back to life after an event such as Jones had. Clarence Jones was released from the hospital that very same day and returned to church that night.
Jones truly believes the prayers and God’s will saved his life that day. He testifies each service about the power of God and the power of prayer and thanks the congregation for saving him. He recently accompanied the church to an overnight singing at Noah’s Ark Free Holiness church in Griffin. He said that was the first time he had traveled through Atlanta on an Interstate and the first motel room he had ever stayed in.
The church family loves Brother Clarence Jones because, as they agree, he’s like a grandfather to them. They realize he’s one of the last of a generation that built this country that we live in today and really enjoy his company.
Clarence Jones would like anyone that remembers him to call him and reminisce. He said that he has outlived all his old friends but he hopes some of them are still around. His phone number is 706- 625- 2327.