Emmett William "Bill" Jones, Jr., 91, Sandpoint resident, passed away Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, in Palm Desert, Calif.

Funeral services for Bill will be conducted 1p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18th, 2012, at Coffelt Funeral Service, with Pastor Jon Pomeroy officiating. Interment will take place in Pinecrest Memorial Park.

Bill was born Oct. 17, 1920, in Glasgow, Mont., the oldest of three children of Emmet and Della (Detchman) Jones. He attended grade school in Rose Lake, Idaho, and graduated in 1938 from Coeur d'Alene High where he excelled in football and track. He joined the U.S. Army in 1940 and served with the 148th Field Artillery in Australia and New Guinea.

Bill graduated from the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in 1946, and then attended the University of Idaho. In 1951, he started Bill and Sam's, a beer distributorship in Sandpoint with Sam Theis, which evolved into Bill Jones Distributors.

Bill married Joyce (McCrum) in 1952 in Sandpoint and they raised their family in Sagle. In 2004, Bill married Virginia Slette and enjoyed the winters in Palm Desert.

He was a long time member of the Elks Lodge 1376, Eagles, VFW, and the Masonic Lodge. He was a charter member of the Sandpoint Lions Club. He was a member of the Lakeside Lodge No. 42 A.F. and A.M., the Scottish Rite, a life member of the El Katif Shrine where he was a past potentate, and the Panhandle Shrine Club. Bill served on the Board of the Idaho Beer and Wine Distributors, and the NBWA, National Beer Wholesalers Association.

Bill coached baseball for many years in Sagle and enjoyed fishing, golfing, hunting, skiing, traveling, photography, music, cribbage and watching sports, especially the Green Bay Packers. He was a lucky person, surviving diphtheria as a child, surviving a plane crash as a pilot, and investing in the stock market.

He is survived by his wife Virginia Jones; a daughter Candy (David) Tate; sons Bill (Mary) Jones, Jerry Jones, and Kevin (Julie) Jones; grandchildren: Adam (Kathy) Tate, Ashley Tate, Courtney Jones, Emmett Jones, Rebecca Jones, Alex Jones, and numerous nieces and nephews. Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Joyce, sister, Maxine, and brother, John.

Memorials may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Family and friends are invited to sign Bill's online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.

Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Coffelt Funeral Service.