Steve Jones was born in Iowa, but he found the life he loved in the Vail Valley. Jones, 85, died Oct. 18 at Castle Peak Senior Life and Rehabilitation in Eagle.
His wife, Linda, was by his side, of course, as she’d been since their marriage in 1972. Steve moved to the valley in 1969 to work at Vail Mountain. In the summers, he started a concrete business and found plenty of work in those early days.
He and Linda met the old-fashioned way, at a house party hosted by Linda’s then-roommate, Carol, who went on to marry Corky Fitzsimmons of Eagle. The next day, Steve rode up to Linda’s place on his motorcycle — Steve had a longtime love of motorcycles — and asked his new friend to dinner. The two began dating and were married in 1972.
The summer wedding was a perfect early Vail affair. There was no Summer Vail at the time, so Jones’ friends cranked up the Lionshead gondola, and the wedding party took a few cars up to Eagles Nest for a ceremony in a pouring rain storm and a reception at the Red Lion. Linda recalled that she and Steve always supported each other in their work in those early days.
At the time she was teaching at the school in Maloit Park that’s now the Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy. Steve, meanwhile, was running his concrete business, as well as wood cutting, apartment cleaning and other ventures. But Steve always had an abiding interest in the outdoors, and for a couple of years helped work as a guide and outfitter on a large ranch near Capitan, New M.
