Known to all his friends as “Johnnie,” he was one of the real pushers and promoters of trapshooting. He loved the sport and worked hard at it for the Michigan Trapshooting Association. He was particularly effective when state shoots were held at the Detroit Gun Club and neighboring Birmingham Gun Club.
Life member John T. Jones, Tucson, Arizona, passed away February 10, 1975 at the age of 69. Former President of the Michigan Trapshooting Association, Johnny Jones had also been ATA delegate from that state for a number of years. He attended the Grand American Tournament for 21 consecutive years before moving to Tucson in 1965. In 1955 he won Class B championship in Sunday’s preliminary singles race with 197 and Class A in the Class Championship in shoot-off over three others with 197 and 25 straight. Two years later at the Grand, he won preliminary Saturday’s singles championship with 100 in the program and 25 in the shoot-off. He also broke 100 straight in the Champion of Champions race in 1959 but lost out in the shoot-off.
He was Michigan Singles Champion in 1959 with 199 and runner-up several times. By the end of the 1974 season, Johnny had 62,450 registered singles targets to his credit.
As head of the Detroit Gun Club and a director of the Michigan Association for many years, Johnny Jones began the huge build-up of trapshooting in the state. Upon retiring and moving to Tucson, he couldn’t stop working for the sport. He labored untiringly on the firing line at the Tucson T&SC, doing all the work on the traps himself.
(* Deceased)