Tom Jones was a lifelong salesman. But he didn't just sell stuff. He sold concepts.

Mr. Jones sold advertising for radio stations in Denver in the '60s and '70s. Then he opened his own ad agency before moving back to his native Kansas City.

Mr. Jones died Aug. 3 a few weeks after heart bypass surgery. He was 84.

"Everything went well with the surgery," said his son, Jim Jones, of Parker. "During his second day of rehab, complications set in. He never did come out of it."

He was born July 18, 1923, in Kansas City, Mo., to Leslie Thomas and Zoe Jones.

He grew up in Kansas City. He had a year of college when he joined the Navy in World War II. He took pilot training but served as a spotter on ships in the South Pacific.

After the war, he returned to Kansas City and became a salesman.

"His father was a salesman," Jones said. "It was a natural transition."

Mr. Jones sold fans, then jewelry, then woodworking machinery.

"He had a Nash Rambler dealership in Chillicothe, Missouri," Jones said.

Then Mr. Jones joined Pepper Sound Studio, selling radio commercials.

He brought his trade to Denver in 1961, selling initially for KIMN. He worked briefly for KOA. And then he opened Marle Advertising.

"It was just him," Jones said.

In the mid-'70s, Mr. Jones moved back to Kansas City.

He sold oil in bulk.

"He also sold pre-engineered steel buildings," Jones said.

His next job was environmental cleanup, removing underground storage tanks. Through that business, Mr. Jones met a land developer. They helped develop a community in Lenexa, Kan.

"When I saw it, it was bare ground," Jones said. "It's all houses and shopping centers and a golf course today."

Mr. Jones worked with what he had - his mind.

"He saw things as they might be his whole life," Jones said. "He taught me the importance of imagination. He took on the world with his shoes shined and a smile. He saw opportunities. He persuaded people to do things."

In his time off, he took his kids fishing and hunting, taught them to shoot pool.

"He was my baseball coach, my basketball coach," Jones said.

While in the Navy, he was stationed in Seattle, where he met Audrey Reading, who was in the Canadian Navy. They married in 1946. She died in 1979.

His current wife, Marlene, lives in Kansas City.

He is also survived by two sons, Jim, of Parker, and Tom III, of Lakewood; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Massarog@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5271

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