From left, Kim Nelson, Lisa Gomes, Al and Muriel Jones, and Leilani Wilmore. (HCH Photo | Anna Weaver)
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
On a recent visit back to Oahu, the Diocese of Honolulu’s former youth ministry director got a chance to visit its current one.
Alphonso “Al” Jones, 91, served the diocese in the late 1990s before retiring to California but visited the islands regularly until COVID-19.
On his first visit back since the pandemic, he and his family met with Lisa Gomes, the diocesan director of youth and young adult ministry, at St. Stephen Diocesan Center in Kaneohe. The two shared stories about youth gatherings and church leaders while his wife, Muriel, daughters, Angie Leilani Wilmore and Kim Nelson, and Kim’s husband, Stafford Nelson, listened and chimed in with their own Hawaii stories.
Al Jones was born and raised in a Catholic family in Washington, D.C., and joined the Navy reserve while in high school. His plans to be a Navy pilot were dashed due to remaining segregation issues in that military branch. But after earning the required credits while on a track scholarship at the University of Michigan, Jones entered the U.S. Air Force’s Aviation Officer Candidate School. He became a navigator in the Air Force, rising to the rank of major before retiring in 1972 and earning a Distinguished Flying Cross during the Vietnam War.
It was through the Air Force that he and his wife, Muriel, first came to Hawaii in 1956. The couple’s first two children, Angela Leilani and Alphonsus Jones Jr. were born on Oahu, with third child, Kimberly, born on a later Air Force assignment in New Jersey.
The family were longtime parishioners at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Pearl City and Jones helped with the building of the lava rock church before it was dedicated in 1959. All three Jones children attended the parish school. After he retired from the Air Force, Jones taught and coached sports at OLGC and was a parish RCIA catechist.
In 1995, Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Kathleen Marie Shields hired him as interim youth minister for the diocese. As part of his many duties in that role, he took local youth groups to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress and World Youth Days in Denver, Paris and Rome. In 2000, he accompanied Sister Kathleen Marie Shields on a youth ministry training trip to Samoa.
He and Muriel retired to Altadena, California, that same year to be closer to their children and grandchildren. They soon became active in their new parish there, with Jones starting a youth ministry program, joining the San Gabriel Pastoral Regional Board and the St. Peter Claver Catholic African American Council. He still attends daily Mass.
From left, Muriel and Al Jones chat with Lisa Gomes at St. Stephen Diocesan Center on Feb. 1. (HCH Photo: Anna Weaver)
Hawaii remains the “home of our hearts,” to the Jones family, as Al described the islands in his memoir, “Soaring: My Improbable Life,” which he cowrote with daughter Kim.
“We had arrived in Hawaii in our twenties, searching for a place where we could build a life as free from racial prejudice, as possible,” Jones wrote. “The experience was everything we had hoped for. It was gratifying as parents to raise our children in Hawaii’s inclusive, multicultural environment where they were able to develop their potential unfettered by artificial societal constraints.”
Al and Muriel returned to Hawaii in 2006 to celebrate their 50th anniversary and are regular visitors to the islands, particularly during Punahou Carnival weekends as their two daughters attended high school there.
Daughter Leilani is a Tony-winning actress, daughter Kim is a retired General Mills executive, and son, Al, served in the Air Force before going on to a civilian career in real estate.
On their visits back, the Jones family likes to check in with their Catholic family, at OLGC and elsewhere.
Jones’ memoir, “Soaring: My Improbable Life,” is available on Amazon.
