Obituaries : Ken Jones, 72; Ventura County Developer

Ventura developer Ken Jones died Thursday at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara after a severe stroke. He was 72.

His family said Jones was responsible for the construction of more than 4,500 homes and more than 1 million square feet of commercial and industrial buildings throughout Southern and Central California during his long career. Many of those homes were in Ventura County.

Born in Portland, Ore., in 1921, he moved to California in 1938. After graduating from Beverly Hills High School in 1939, he joined the Army, flying transport planes in the South Pacific during World War II.

After the war Jones began working in the construction industry, first as a general superintendent, then as a site manager and eventually making his way into upper management. Jones came to Ventura in 1957, when he joined the Walter Scholtz Building Corp. In 1970 he formed his own company in Ventura, Ken Jones Co., which is now headed by his son, Bradley Jones.

He was active in Ventura Rotary and the United Way. Formerly he was president of the Boy Scouts Council, a director of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce and president of the Building Industry Assn. of Ventura County.

Also surviving are his daughter, Carolyn Purdy; six grandchildren; and companion Rusty Stewart.

The Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura is handling arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any tributes be in the form of memorial contributions to a favorite charity.