Funeral home owner run over by his own pickup truck

Brunswick funeral home now preparing for services for its co-owner

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The family of a Brunswick funeral home director is now preparing for his funeral after he was accidentally run over Monday by his own pickup truck. 

Ronnie Jones, who was 66 years old, was at Selden Park in Brunswick with a group of longshoremen for a day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day when he was killed. Although police have not issued their report on the incident, the Brunswick News reported that Jones left his truck in reverse when he got out to talk with someone. The newspaper said the truck’s door hit him, knocking him down and the truck rolled over his body. 

His wife, Priscilla, said Jones died doing what he loved, which was serving his community.

"He was doing his regular community service, loving the people, and that’s what he did every day," she said.

In addition to his wife, Jones left behind two sons and five grandchildren. 

"He was an underprivileged child who grew up in his community, I met him in college," Priscilla Jones said. "At first he was going to college for criminal justice and he always wanted to be a mortician, and he always wanted to have his own business."

Since 2002, Jones and his wife have run the R. L. Jones and Sons Funeral Home. Recently, the couple opened a second location in Camden County. 

"Love. Respect of others," Priscilla Jones said of the work. "If you don’t know what a family’s going through and you haven’t walked in those shoes, we just need to respect others ... and there’s so little love now amongst people," 

When she got the news about her husband’s death, Priscilla Jones said knew it would be a loss to the community. The couple's business is now preparing for Jones' funeral, scheduled for Jan. 30.

"My plan is to do a scholarship," Priscilla Jones said of a way to honor her husband. "He grew up in the Macintire Court projects and I talked to him many times about doing a scholarship for a child that would come out of those same projects ... a scholarship for anyone interested in mortuary science."