A childhood actor on Broadway during the 1920’s, a family farmer during the Great Depression, a salesman traveling by bicycle during World War II, the fired manager of WHOB radio in Gardner, MA (dismissed for broadcasting a program about Planned Parenthood), and the purchaser of a tiny piece of a tiny pop radio station (WCRB) which was on the brink of bankruptcy. In 1950, the station was sold entirely to Theodore Jones, who would own the station under the name of Charles River Broadcasting until his death in 1991. Prior to that time, Ted Jones set up the Charles River Broadcast Trust to guarantee that the station would continue it’s classical music identity in perpetuity.

Ted finally fulfilled his long deferred dream when he was ordained at First Parish in Waltham as a Unitarian Universalist minister at age 65. Ted was incessantly in motion. While he and his wife Nathalie were very active leaders at church, Ted managed to work hard, also, for his Rotary Club, the Red Cross, YMCA, PTA, and various hunger, civil liberties, housing, and adult education groups. One Rotarian colleague offered this recipe for Ted’s success: “He never takes ‘no’ for an answer, he surrounds himself with the best possible people, and he has an enormous heart.” The Rev. Theodore Jones died in 1991. He was 80 years old.