Richard Jones, a former co-owner of Walnut Green bloodstock agency, died Wednesday, Jan. 10. He had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in August.
Jones and his brother, Russell, built Walnut Green into a leading outfit specializing in the consigning and buying of bloodstock. They sold the Pennsylvania-based firm in 2005 to Mark Reid.
Jones was a member of The Jockey Club. For nearly 30 years, he helped manage the powerful Christiana Stables of his mother-in-law, Jane du Pont Lunger, who died in 2001.
Raised on a dairy farm in Westtown, Jones was the second son of Russell and Carol Pyle Jones. He attended Westtown School and graduated from the Haverford School, Yale University, class of 1960, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
He began his career in the law as a deputy attorney in the Delaware Department of Justice and after two years joined the Wilmington law firm of Prickett & Prickett (later Prickett, Jones & Elliott) where he continued to practice until his retirement in 2003.
Among the stakes winners raced by Christiana Stables during the time he assisted in its operation was two-time Eclipse Award filly Go for Wand. He served on the board of Delaware Park and the Breeders Cup and as a steward of the Jockey Club and president of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association. He was also a member of the Coaching Club of America, the Philadelphia Farmers Club, the Gulf Stream Club, Yeaman’s Hall, the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club, the Wilmington Club and The Brook Club.
Jones was also actively involved in his community, serving many years as a Republican committeeman for Chester County and a member of the Board of Supervisors in West Marlborough Township and on the Board of the Brandywine Hospital and the Chester County Community Foundation. He also was chairman of the Board of Mr. Stewarts Cheshire Foxhounds (where he established a land preservation fund), president of the Brandywine Polo Club and, more recently, of the Vicmead Hunt Club.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Ann Lunger Jones, his brother Russell, his sons Richie Jr., Tim and Brett, his daughter, Braxton Lynch, who recently began operating her own farm in Central Kentucky, and 11 grandchildren. A memorial service is planned for Wednesday Jan. at 2 p.m. at Christ Church, Greenville, DE. In lieu of flowers, the family request contributions to the Cheshire Land Preservation Fund or the Chester County Community Foundation.
A service will be held Jan. 17 at Christ Church in Wilmington, Del.