Charles Robert Jones was born in a tenant house on his grandfather’s farm in Gainesboro, TN on June 21, 1930. Roosevelt was elected President in 1932 and in March 1933, four months after the election, when the American economy fell to its lowest level in the history of the nation, the Jones family moved to Nashville TN.
A product of the depression, Charles Jones early years were spent in a rental house in north Nashville, and his family moved to Old Jefferson in 1936, and remained there until the beginning of World War II in 1941.
The experiences of growing up in the country, fishing, hunting, and rural life nestled in the fork of Stones River on the edge of Old Jefferson, had a profound effect on Charle’s life. Many of the stories shared by the local patrons, who routinely gathered at the small General store, left a deep impression on Charle’s heart, and shaped his worldview.
WW ll was well under way in 1942 when the Jones family moved to Brunswick Georgia. Charles worked in the JA Jones Shipyard, which was mass producing ships on an unprecedented scale. He had the unique opportunity of being a messenger delivering blueprints for the now iconic Liberty ships.
In 1946 the Jones family moved back to Nashville and Charles attended East Nashville High School, until he quit school in the 10th grade. For the next three years he worked for the Avco Corporation in the press room, making steel parts for the aviation industry, and worked in construction.
In 1949 Charles moved to Detroit and worked in an automobile plant for two years, and then joined the Army in 1951. During the Korean War he was a Medical corpsman and later a Psychiatric Assistant. While in the Army he met and Married Maryetta. Maryetta stated that Charles sent her over 400 love letters during his two years in the Army.
The Korean War ended July 27th 1953 and that fall Charles began his College Education at David Lipscomb University in Nashville, where he earned a B.A. in History and Speech, and later earned his Master’s Degree from Western Michigan University in Speech Therapy and Psychology. While attending college, Charles Preached at a small Church of Christ congregation and was a substitute teacher in Michigan.
In 1965 Charles was working in public education when he decided to try business for one year. He accepted a job with an automobile leasing company as a manager. A born leader, and motivator, Charles experienced tremendous success in business, and never went back to public education. Charle’s wit, warmth, and wise counsel earned him a wealth of friendships and business contacts that on occasion seemed to follow him into his next business venture.
Due to his stint as the President of a local chapter of the Michigan Education Association, and his success in the automobile leasing business, Charles was invited to develop a member benefit program for the 80,000 members of the Michigan Education Association, which led to an invitation to Washington DC to develop a program for over a million members of the National Education Association.
With an entrepreneurial spirit, a flair for marketing, and a brilliant business mind forged from life experiences, Charles was able to negotiate deals with banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, and manufacturers to get discounts for teachers on a national scale.
Based on the success of his membership benefit coordination for the NEA, Charles launched his own company called, Professional Economic Services, which he managed from 1970 to 1985. His clients included Delta Airlines, General Electric, the Retired Army Officers Association, Air Force, and Marine Associations, and other corporations.
In 1985 Charles turned his company over to his partner and transitioned into investing in farms, and commercial properties in Virginia, Texas, and Oklahoma. Charles returned to Tennessee in 1990 and began to purchase historic properties such as the St Bernard’s Convent Building, and the Werthan Bag Factory of the Driving Miss Daisy Fame.
He repurposed an important Tennessee landmark, the former Macy’s Building, and traded it for the Memorial Hospital property at Due West Towers. Charles was an integral part in the ongoing restoration of the Historic Milky Way Farm, the former estate of Franklin C. Mars, founder of Mars Candies.
Innovator, Entrepreneur, Developer, Manager, Educator just a few of the words that describe the different caps that Charles has successfully worn for the past 60 years. But these roles only represent a small part of Charles Robert Jones life. To his family, friends, and community, Charles isn’t just a successful businessman who restores historic landmarks, but an inspirational Mentor who has counseled, inspired, restored and “re-purposed” numerous lives – a kind Humanitarian rich in good works.