Obituaries

Obituary: John E. Jones, 86, Glenview State Bank Chairman

Jones purchased Glenview State Bank in 1950 along with his father and another business partner. He became chairman in 1978.

BIOGRAPHY

John Jones was born March 15, 1927 in Marion, Indiana. John’s father was Paul Curtis Jones and his mother was Mary Elizabeth Jones. He passed away December 11, 2013. 

John had two sisters, Dr. Marianne Tucker, now deceased and Claranel L. Jones also deceased. 

John’s sister, Dr. Marianne Tucker, was a real trailblazer in her generation having earned a Doctorate in psychology from the University of Virginia and teaching at the University level in San Diego California. 

In 1921, Paul Curtis Jones and Mary Jones helped to found a company known as American Security Corporation. Paul was a very creative idea man while Mary was excellent in managing money. The American Security Corporation grew rapidly as a pioneer in the automobile finance business during the 1920’s, 1930’s, and 1940’s. 

With the advent of the Second World War, John Jones transferred from Marion High School in Marion, Indiana, to Culver Military Academy in Culver Indiana. John received Officers training at Culver in preparation for serving in the Second World War. 

Upon High School graduation from Culver, John was offered a position at West Point. However, John declined the position in favor of a friend at Culver who wanted to serve as a professional career officer. 

John Jones joined the United States Navy and served until the end of the Second World War. While in the Navy, his ship served in South American ports and then moved into the Pacific Ocean. At the conclusion of the war, John’s ship was located in the Philippines and he was honorably discharged. 

During the Second World War, John’s father, Paul Curtis Jones was the Chairman of the Finance Trade Association in the United States of America. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent a cable to Paul Curtis Jones asking him to assemble the Financers’ organization for a meeting with his administration. Then Secretary of War Henry Lewis Stimson met with the trade finance association and encouraged each of them to invest in U.S. manufacturing companies to support the war effort. As a result, in early in 1942, Paul Curtis Jones and his business partner James Mentzer purchased Cummins Allison Corporation from the founding families and moved the company to Chicago in 1942. 

One of the sons of the founding Allison family was named James Allison. Jim Allison founded The Prest-O-Lite Corporate and later Allison Engineering. The Allison trade name is well known for the transmissions, aircraft turbines, and other technical products which are still sold around the world today. Jim Allison also was a co-founder of the Indianapolis 500 Speedway. 

After serving in the military, John attended Northwestern University where he majored in business and met many life-long friends. John graduated from Northwestern University in 1950 with a B.S. degree in Business Administration. Upon graduation from Northwestern University, John Jones joined Cummins Allison. John’s responsibility at Cummins Allison grew rapidly in the 1950’s and by the mid 1960’s he was President of the company. 

In 1960, Paul Curtis Jones sold the American Security Corporation to General Finance Corporation. Subsequently, John Jones, his father Paul Curtis Jones, and Jim Mentzer decided to purchase the Glenview State Bank in Glenview, Illinois. John’s father Paul served as Chairman of that banking group from 1961 until Paul’s death in 1979. 

Beginning the mid 1950’s, under John’s leadership, Cummins Allison blossomed and was a key innovator in many technologies. In addition to being a good businessman, John Jones was a very creative person who had a vision for where technology was going. Shortly after the Second World War, under John’s leadership, Cummins became a leader in the portable tool business where Cummins Allison was known as “The Cadillac” supplier of portable tools. This business was sold to the Oster Company in the early 1960’s. 

In the late 1950’s, and early 1960’s, John Jones was a contributing pioneer toward the introduction of computers and automation equipment for banking and other industries. Cummins Allison developed check processing equipment which allowed the automation of processing of checks within banks. Instead of manually posting and balancing checks, Cummins Allison’s pioneering check scanner technologies could read checks through optical character recognition (OCR) and also through magnetic ink character recognition (MICR). 

It was during this time that John Jones met Mr. Al Ziff who was the Chief Technology Officer at Bank of America of California. Al was a true visionary and pioneer relative to bringing technology into banking. In fact, Al Ziff installed the first large scale computer system in a bank, The Bank of America, during the 1950’s. The system was called the Electronic Recording Method of Accounting, or ERMA. 

Al Ziff, John Jones and several other banking and finance business leaders assembled an industry organization to establish banking standards relative to the automation of check processing. This organization was known as the Joint Bank and Business Equipment Manufacturers committee on Bank Automation. During committee deliberations John Jones advocated perforated holes as the machine readable code on checks to be read by check scanner sorters while Mr. Ziff wanted MICR. The committee finally agreed to MICR as a standard for all banks to use throughout the United States at the urging of Al Ziff. John Jones conceded to Al Ziff because, as John said, “Al was his customer, and the customer is always right”. 

John’s next vision relative to check processing automation was to find a way to reduce the complexity of the check processing computation on large main frame computers. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, utilizing main frame computers to process and balance checks took up a tremendous amount of memory capacity. To address this problem, Cummins Allison developed what was known as remote “mini-computer” to process and balance checks. The pioneering development of the mini-computer served to drive check scanner sorters and improve memory capacity on mainframe banking computers. Checks would be recognized, sorted, and accounts posted to an electronic record, without requiring large amounts of mainframe computer memory. 

In the mid 1970’s, John Jones helped organize what was known as the Committee of the Computer and Communications Industry Association. This was a group of independent and creative computer manufacturing companies from throughout the United States of America. John organized this group in response to AT&T declared intent to enter the computer business. At that time, AT&T was a protected monopoly owning international and local phone companies. The CCIA was organized to oppose the entrance of a monopoly business into the dynamic and competitive computer and software industry. 

This turned into a David and Goliath type battle in Washington D.C. Fortunately, John Jones and other leaders of the CCIA were able to convince Senator Edward Kennedy that the entrance of AT&T, a monopoly power into a competitive computer industry would not be beneficial to the United States of America. Senator Kennedy was then able to build a coalition of Republican and Democratic Senators who were able to pass legislation prohibiting AT&T from entering into the computer industry. This lead to a series of events including the divestiture by AT&T of AT&T’s local phone monopolies. 

John’s efforts in Washington, D.C. also helped contribute to the golden age of computer and software innovation beginning in the early 1970’s by providing an environment for visionaries to create entire new companies which are now house-hold names such as Microsoft, Apple, Dell and others. 

In 1979, John Jones sold the Cummins Allison check processing and computer businesses to Recognition Equipment of Texas. He then established a new vision for Cummins Allison where Cummins would develop technology and products to enhance and automate the handling of coin and banknote currency for Banks, Credit Unions, Armored Carriers, Casinos, Amusement Parks, Retailers and other users of coin and paper currency. 

During the 1980’s and 1990’s, John Jones and the engineering team at Cummins Allison developed a vision and obtained many patents around high speed coin processing technology. This was followed by high speed low cost currency scanning technology, to count and sort currency. Prior to the introduction of the Cummins Allison currency processing product, a low cost currency scanning device cost over $50,000. This made it impossible for banks to place currency scanners in bank branch networks. 

The revolutionary Cummins Allison JetScan technology reduced the cost of table-top currency scanners to under $3,000 per unit. This revolutionized the banking industry and enabled banks to more efficiently process currency at their branch and central vault locations. Later, this low cost high speed currency scanning technology was integrated into larger machines that are now used to sort currency, package currency, strap currency, etc. at bank central vaults in the USA, Canada, and Europe. They also contain high-tech authentication sensors which help identify counterfeits for currency around the world. 

The success of this technology expanded business for Cummins Allison well beyond the United States. Today, Cummins Allison maintains direct factory Sales and Service offices in over 70 locations throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and Germany. Cummins Allison products are also exported to over fifty different Countries’ around the world through appointed sales agents in 50 Countries. Approximately 30% of Cummins Allison production today is for export. All of Cummins Allison products continue to be designed and manufactured in the United States of America. All of Cummins Allison assembly and factories are in the Chicago area. Today the company employs’s over 1000 Americans involved in the design, production, sales and service of Cummins Allison equipment throughout the world. 

John Jones has enjoyed equal success with his involvement at Glenview State Bank. Glenview State Bank has always been a visionary consumer service oriented community bank. The bank grew from an equity investment of one-million dollars and deposits of about seven-million dollars in 1960; to a bank that now has equity in excess of one hundred twenty five-million dollars and assets in excess of one-billion dollars, as well as, additional trust management assets in excess of one-billion dollars. 

As an innovator, Glenview State Bank was the first bank in Illinois to offer drive-up teller stations in the early 1960’s. Glenview State Bank also pioneered extended business hours from 7am to 7pm, Monday through Saturday. 

John Jones was always wise in business government bringing strong, independent business leaders into his Boards at Cummins Allison and Glenview State Bank to assure accountability in the privately held corporation. Individuals that have served on the Boards at Cummins Allison and Glenview State Bank over the years include the following: 

Howard Poduska, former President, Bank of New York. 
Al Ziff, former Executive Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer Bank of America. 
William Wearly, former Chairman Ingersoll Rand. 
Dr. Don Bollinger, former Dean the Engineering School University of Wisconsin. 
William Boyd, former President, Sterling Plumbing, and Board Member Kohler Plumbing. 
Mr. Irving Fishman, Senior Partner McDermott, Will, and Emery (retired). 
Mr. Tom Ferguson, former Director of the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 
Mr. Grant Ellis and Mr. Jerry Jonker, Private Investors Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

John Jones served on the Board of WW Grainger during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. John enjoyed serving with WW Grainger as well as David Grainger in those formative years as Grainger was developing their very successful business strategy. 

For more then 20 years John served on the Board of S&C Electric, perhaps the most successful and largest manufacturer located within the city of Chicago. 

John Jones also served on various Trade Associations related to manufacturing and banking over the years where he worked closely with Congressmen, Senators and other public officials. He was very supportive of the Bayh-Dold amendment which helped to strengthen the U.S. patent system and provide protections for intellectual property in the United States of America. 

John Jones also served on the United States Business and Industry council board for approximately five years in the early 2000’s. This trade group was organized to address the concerns of privately held manufacturers located throughout the United States of America. 

Cummins Allison is a member of the National Association of Manufacturers. The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce 

John Jones has served on the following charitable boards during his career. 

Ravenswood Hospital 
North Park College of Chicago 
Trinity school for Ministry Seminary Ambridge, Pennsylvania (where he served with his good friend George Gallup). 
Christ Church Winnetka. 
Christian Laymen of Chicago. 

One of the passions that John Jones and George Gallup shared in their later years was an interest in young people and the direction of America. John Jones often said that he was praying for another “great awakening” in American history. He was proud of his service on the Gallup Fellowship for more than a decade. 

John Jones faith was very important to him and he was always encouraging the development and growth of Synagogues and the Church. 

John Jones also provided seed money to help support staff salaries during the formation of Christ Church of Lake Forest. 

During the horrible 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, before the tragedy was covered by the press, John Jones was sending significant donations to the Church in Rwanda at the request of his friend Bishop John of Rwanda. The funds were used to quickly establish schools and orphanages for the many young children who were left homeless and without parents because of the Genocide. 

John and his extended family have also been faithful supporters of Catholic Charities, Calvin College, Boy Scouts of America, Misericordia, Salvation Army, Maryville Academy, World Vision, Willow Creek Association, Cristo Rey, the Anti-defamation league, the Christian Heritage Academy of Northfield, Illinois and St. Viator High School of Arlington Heights, Illinois for many years. 

John Jones has been fortunate that the businesses have been able to remain privately held and operated by family members and professional managers here in the Chicago area. 

Today, the Glenview State Bank is lead by John’s eldest son Paul Alexander Jones as Chairman of Glenview State Bank. 

John has left the leadership of Cummins Allison to his other surviving son William J. Jones as Chairman and to Douglas Mennie as President of Cummins Allison. 

John Jones was the beloved husband of the late Elizabeth Lane Jones. They had been married for almost sixty-years. 

Two children predecease John Jones and his wife Elizabeth, John Davidson Jones, and Mary Elizabeth Jones. 

The surviving children of John and Elizabeth include, Paul Alexander Jones and his wife Diane Jones. They have four children, Alex, Zachary, Paul, and Julia Jones Essery, wife of Kyle Essery. John Jones was very proud and blessed to live long enough to see his first Great Grandson, Luke Essery, son of Julia and Kyle. 

John Jones is also survived by his son William James Jones and his wife Lori Griffith Jones. They have two children Carolyn and David. 

John Jones is survived by his daughter Anne Claranel Jones White and her husband David Norris White. They have three children, Sarah, David and Christopher. 

One of John’s favorite versus from scripture is the following: 

Deuteronomy Chapter 6 verses 4-9: 

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might. Take to heart these words with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates”. 

We are blessed by John Jones service to our community. 




VISITATION

Tuesday December 17, 2013, 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Donnellan Family Funeral Services, 10045 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, Illinois 60077 
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FUNERAL SERVICE

Wednesday December 18, 2013, 2:00 PM at Christ Church Lake Forest 
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BURIAL PRIVATE

Memorial Park Cemetery, 9900 Gross Point Road, Skokie, Illinois 60076 
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