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Officer Down: Reserve Officer Curtis Jones

Age: 74

Cause of Death: Automobile accident

Reserve Officer Curtis Jones was killed in an automobile accident on I-10, near the Oak Harbor exit. His patrol car left the roadway and struck a tree at approximately 12:00 am.

He was transported to Northshore Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

La. officer killed in crash after shift

By Molly Reid
Times-Picayune

NEW ORLEANS — When Curtis Jones left his Slidell home to work a security shift Friday night at the Superdome as a reserve officer for the New Orleans Police Department, the 74-year-old retired Army major did not do it out of financial necessity.

He did it because "that's what he loved doing: giving his time, no matter what," said his wife, Brenda.

Driving back from New Orleans on Interstate 10 about midnight, Jones lost control of his squad car less than a mile after crossing the Lake Pontchartrain twin spans. The 1999 Ford Crown Victoria crashed into a tree, State Police said. He died at NorthShore Regional Medical Center in Slidell.

Brenda Jones said her husband of 21 years was known for his gentleness.

"When you say love, that was Curtis," she said. "He was just a wonderful person. He loved people."

A native of Star, Miss., an unincorporated part of Rankin County southeast of Jackson, Jones joined the Army when he turned 18. He served for 25 years, including during the Vietnam War.

His time in the Army took him to every state and many foreign countries. "He was very, very active," Brenda Jones said.

After leaving the military, Jones set his sights on primary school education and put down roots in New Orleans. He earned undergraduate and master's degrees in the field from Loyola University and taught at Helen S. Edwards Elementary School.

He went on to become an assistant principal at Bienville Elementary School and principal of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic School, both in New Orleans.

"I guess that was his way of helping in the community," Brenda Jones said. "He always thought it started with the children."

After retiring from primary school education, Jones began a third career as a police officer around 1990, serving in the NOPD's 6th District. He later joined the department's reserve unit, where he continued to work until his final shift Friday night.

Driving back to Slidell, where he and his wife lived for the past 12 years, Jones was nearly home.

Just before the Oak Harbor exit, the car veered to the right for unknown reasons and went off the road, traveling 150 feet before hitting a tree. Jones was wearing a seat belt, and investigators do not suspect drugs or alcohol factored into the crash.

Family and friends will remember him as a caring, generous and spiritual person, Brenda Jones said.

"If someone asked him to do something, he would never turn away," she said. "There was a lady on the street . . . she lived under the highway. He would buy her food, check on her. He loved it, helping people."

Besides his wife, survivors include two children from a previous marriage.

Copyright 2008 Times-Picayune

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