Feb. 28—St. John Baptist Church and the Lake County NAACP are inviting the public to honor former church deacon and county NAACP president Albert Jones at a March 2 event.

The free event will begin at 3 p.m. at First Church Congregational, at 22 Liberty St. in Painesville. Current county NAACP President Pam Morse said that it will be followed by a reception at 4 p.m.

Morse asked that people who want to attend respond on an Eventbrite page, which can be found by visiting eventbrite.com and searching for “Deacon Albert Jones Emeritus Event.”

In addition to the church and NAACP branch, she said that the groups recognizing Jones include the county commissioners and representatives from Painesville City. Other area churches and Jones’ family members have also been invited.

Jones will be the first outgoing Lake County NAACP president to be named president-emeritus, according to Morse. She said that the title reflects “the longevity and the amount of dedication he had to Lake County and its community members for civil rights, for equality, for justice and again, specifically, his dedication to the county.”

“We are really going to miss him,” she added. “We have over these last few months, and we’ll miss him even more as we move forward.”

Morse said in a letter that Jones began serving as a deacon at St. John in 1972 and was elected county NAACP president in 2012, resigning both roles in 2023 for health reasons. He was also a termed-out board member for United Way of Lake County, and he received awards from the Lake County NAACP and HOLA Ohio.

She said that during Jones’ time as a deacon, he and other church members created “a very successful food bank.”

“They would take it upon themselves to make sure that the elderly who couldn’t reach the church received food,” Morse added.

She said that he also helped launch Begin the Conversation, which she described as a program about “race relations and justice in Lake County” designed to “build relationships between the police officers and all folks of all ages and races.”

Morse’s letter stated that Jones was an Army veteran, husband, father and grandfather. She added that he worked at Lubrizol for 30 years until 1998, and then he worked at his HVAC business until retiring in 2022.

“I want to encourage everyone who knew Deacon Jones in his capacity as a local businessman, a local launcher of projects and everything that he did to please come and share this celebration with us,” she said. “We’re offering it to everyone, so please come and share the celebration.”