PASSINGS
Donald G. Jones, 78, a professor at Drew University in Madison, N.J., and Methodist minister who was an early spiritual mentor to Hillary Rodham Clinton, died Thursday of natural causes in Morristown, N.J.
Jones was serving his first pastorate at First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Ill., when he met a young Hillary Rodham, then a high school freshman. She belonged to the youth group that Jones led.
Colleagues said Jones raised the social awareness of his students, taking them to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preaching in Chicago in 1962. Some members of the church disagreed with his direction of the youths, and he resigned after two years.
Clinton, in her memoir “Living History,” credits Jones as an important influence in her life. “Don taught me the meaning of the words ‘faith in action’ and the importance of social justice and human rights,” the Secretary of State and former first lady said in a statement. “I will miss him and will be grateful forever for the gift of his intelligence, counsel, kindness and support over many years.”
Jones served in the Navy and then attended Augustana College in South Dakota, graduating in 1957. Four years later he was ordained as a minister through Drew’s theological school.
After leaving his minister’s post, he returned to Drew to teach and earn his doctorate. He taught social ethics for 36 years at the Madison, N.J., university.
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