Paul Craig Jones

Paul Craig Jones, a retired Southampton Town police officer who lived on Banks Court in East Hampton, died on Nov. 9 at the Northport Veterans Administration Hospital after a prolonged illness. He was 63.

Mr. Jones, who was known as Pop, was an outgoing person who loved his job and the uniform he wore, his wife, the Rev. Connie Jones, said. He was often in that uniform at Bridgehampton School sporting events, where students knew him as Pop the Cop. He also worked for Long Island University at its Southampton campus as a security sergeant before a disability forced him to retire. He spent 32 years on the police force and 24 years working for the college, some of which overlapped.

Mr. Jones was born on Nov. 21, 1947, in Southampton to William Jones and the former Gertrude Walker. He grew up in Bridgehampton and graduated from the high school there.

A devoted Christian, he joined St. David A.M.E. Zion Church in Sag Harbor as a young man.

He served in the Air Force as a clerk typist. Assignments included deployments to Korea and Vietnam, where, Ms. Jones said, he was involved in recovering the remains of service members. He was discharged in 1971.

Back home in the states, he married Ms. Jones, began a family, and became a police officer. He received a departmental commendation as a distinguished pistol expert. He was remembered as an outgoing man,

He enjoyed going to church, taking family trips, and going to drive-in movies in Bridgehampton. He liked to fish and ride a bike before various ailments slowed him down.

As his health failed, he attended programs at the Adult Day Care Center in East Hampton, where a highlight of his day was reading newspapers over coffee and discussing world events. At home he was limited to short walks in the yard and chasing away deer that attacked his shrubs.

Both of his parents and three siblings, Celestine Jones, Clarence Jones, and Howard Williams, died before him.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Gertrude White of Kissimmee, Fla., and his children, Paul Anthony Jones of Brooklyn, Jeremy Kim Jones of East Hampton, Paul C. Jones III of East Hampton, and a stepson, Joseph Kennedy Smith of Jonesboro, Ga. Seven grandchildren, a niece, and a nephew also survive.

The family expressed their gratitude to Calvary Baptist Church and the police departments in East Hampton Town, Southampton Town, and Norwich, Conn.

A funeral was held for Mr. Jones at Calvary Baptist Church on Monday. Pastor Charles E. Hopson gave the eulogy. Burial was at Calverton National Cemetery.