Herbert L. JonesOkemosHerbert L. Jones of Okemos, Mich., a retired fundraising executive who devoted much of his spare time to charitable causes, died Dec. 12 at the age of 87 following a short illness.Although he retired in 1992, Mr. Jones remained active until recent years in several charitable organizations, providing consulting services to the Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis, the Edyvean Repertory Theater, the Urban League of Indianapolis, the Indiana Humanities Council, the East Lansing Kiwanis Club Foundation, and the Michigan Humanities Council, among other groups.He died as he had lived: In good orderly fashion, with all accounts, both literal and figurative, squared away.Mr. Jones was born on Feb. 27, 1929, on a farm outside the small Iowa town of Milton, the third and youngest child of Glen M. Jones and Opal P. Severs Jones. His brother, LaVerne Jones, died in 1971. His sister, Ruth C.J. Jones, lives in Tennessee.His career took him on an unpredictable path from farmstead to boardroom, and over the decades he retained a folksy charm, often dispensing rural adages—"standing in tall cotton," "uphill and axle-deep"—that, combined with his well-tailored suits, disarmed some and delighted others.He graduated in 1951 from Iowa Wesleyan College with a bachelor's degree in sociology. On his first job after college, as a field organizer for the Henry County (Iowa) Farm Bureau, he was once asked by a farmer what he hoped to do with his life. "I want to work with people," Mr. Jones recalled saying—words that would prove prescient.It was at Iowa Wesleyan College that he met his first wife, Colleen Farnsworth Jones, a member of the Class of 1950. The two had three children. She died in 2008.Mr. Jones served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, in the U.S. and Germany, as an information and education specialist. Once, while filling out an Army form, he was asked to list his hobbies. Having none to speak of—but having recently bought a camera—he wrote "photography." On the basis of this alone, the Army put him charge of a darkroom, and soon he was also writing press releases—experiences that would set the trajectory of his career.He returned to Iowa Wesleyan College after his discharge, and in 1958 he became vice president and director of public relations and development. In 1962 he moved, with his wife and their three children, to Albion, MI, where Mr. Jones became vice president for college relations and development at Albion College.The opportunity arose in 1968 to become director of development at Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. He accepted the job, and he and his family took up residence in Winnetka, IL. While at Garrett, he reorganized the development office, aided the seminary's merger with Evangelical Theological Seminary, and, beginning in 1977, as vice president of development, led a five-year, $10 million development campaign.He left Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1980 and spent four years as a consultant with the firm of Robert E. Nelson Associates, of Oakbrook, IL. Another institutional call came in 1984, when he became vice president of university relations at Butler University in Indianapolis, where he helped launch a $75 million fundraising campaign.From 1989 until his official retirement in 1992, he was vice president for development of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, where he oversaw a campaign that raised $42.6 million in 32 months. He also supervised an annual fund program that in 1992 surpassed $4 million.Retirement afforded Mr. Jones little rest, as nonprofits came asking for advice. He provided consulting services to the Bicycle Action Project of Indianapolis, the Unitarian/Universalist Church of Muncie, the Columbus Pro Musica of Columbus, IN, the Academy of Model Aeronautics of Muncie, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis, the Columbus (IN) Philharmonic, the Holland (MI) Symphony Orchestra, and several churches.He often had difficulty saying no to a nonprofit organization's request for fundraising advice, especially when he believed in the organization's cause.Over the years he had belonged to the United Methodist Church in the various communities where he lived, but in recent years he had been a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Lansing, MI.His last words are said to have been, "I always just wanted to do a good job."Mr. Jones is survived by his second wife, Susan; two daughters, Kimberly Jones of Wilmette, IL. (wife of Michael Felz), and Cynthia Jones Humphreys of Saginaw, MI. (wife of Richard Humphreys Jr.); a son, Kevin Jones of Evanston, IL. (husband of Elizabeth Recht Jones); and grandchildren Sean and James Felz, Erin and Sara Humphreys, and Rachel and Peter Jones.A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on December 21, 2016 at First Presbyterian Church, 510 W. Ottawa, Lansing, MI.  The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lansing Symphony, 104 S. Washington Square #300, Lansing, MI 48933 or to the music program at the First Presbyterian Church of Lansing.The family is being served by Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, Lansing Chapel.  Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.grlansing.com.