Saturday, Dec. 19, 1998 

     Area rancher, deacon, bank founder dies 

     Jones, known for community service, was descendant of South Texas
     pioneer family 


     From staff reports 

        William Whitby Jones II, a banker, a rancher, a deacon, a
     philanthropist and a World War II veteran, died of a heart attack
     Wednesday. He was 77. 
        Jones, a descendant of a South Texas pioneer family, served
     as a chairman of the board of the First National Bank of
     Beeville, a director of the First National Bank of Hebbronville, a
     director of the Texas Commerce Bank of Houston, a director of
     Corpus Christi National Bank, an advisory director of
     NationsBank in Corpus Christi and was a past president of Alice
     National Bank. 
        "He was a great inspiration and a leader," said his son, Dick
     Jones. "I constantly went to him for advice." 
        Jones, a Rotarian, also was known for his community service
     in supporting organizations such as Spohn Memorial Hospital,
     Driscoll Children's Hospital and the Junior League of Corpus
     Christi. 
        Jones was born in Beeville on Sept. 29, 1921, to Gertrude
     Russell and A.C. Jones III. His great-grandfather, Capt. A.C.
     Jones, founded the First National Bank of Beeville. 
        Before Jones followed his great-grandfather's footsteps to
     banking, he attended Staunton Military Academy in Staunton,
     Va., and graduated from Schreiner Institute in Kerrville. He
     attended the University of Washington and served with the 839th
     AAA Gun Battalion in Europe during World War II, attaining the
     rank of sergeant. 
        Jones was chairman of the board of Mestena Inc., a
     family-owned oil and gas company, and served as its president
     from 1972 to 1990. 
        Jones, also a rancher in the Hebbronville area, served as a
     director of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers
     Association and as president of the South Texas Hereford
     Association. 
        Other survivors include his wife, Muriel; four daughters, Susan
     Miller, Lorine Booth, Kathleen Avery and Elizabeth Jones; three
     stepsons, Fred, Jeff and Derrick Soward; two sisters, Alice
     Thompson of Virginia Beach, Va., and Jeanne Hause of
     Beeville; 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.