Rev. Dr. Jones, 88, led growth of Renton church
Several congregants at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Baptist Church in Renton will travel to Baltimore for the funeral Monday of their beloved former pastor, the Rev. Dr. Leon Jones, who had lived in Baltimore since retiring from the church here in 1999.
Dr. Jones, 88, was pastor of MLK Church, as it is frequently called, for 21 years. He also was former area minister for American Baptist Churches in the Northwest and president of Black United Clergy of the Northwest. He died in Baltimore on Saturday after a long illness.
During his tenure at the Renton church, the congregation built a new sanctuary in the Renton Highlands and increased its membership from fewer than two dozen, which included the children, to a congregation of more than 600. Before that, Dr. Jones was pastor of Second Baptist Church in Everett for nearly a decade.
The last time he preached at MLK Church, in February, he was a guest for the church’s 30th anniversary celebration. “He couldn’t stand for very long, so we sat him up on a high stool to preach from the pulpit, and oh, what a time we had,” said longtime member Bobbi Sims of Seattle.
As area minister for American Baptist Churches of the Northwest for more than 13 years, Dr. Jones oversaw the placement and care of American Baptist pastors.
Born in Laurel, Miss., Dr. Jones settled in the Pacific Northwest more than a half-century ago, after an eight-year stint as a chef in the Navy, stationed in Bremerton.
He and his childhood sweetheart, Rubye (Brown) Jones, were married for 65 years. Also surviving is the couple’s only daughter, Dr. Kathryn (Jones) Carver of Baltimore, two grandsons and six great-grandchildren.