Dr. Thomas C. Jones, a retired ophthalmologist and eye surgeon who had been active in the civil rights movement, died Jan. 23 at his Severn home of heart failure. He was 94.
The son of James H. Jones, a businessman, and Lottie Jones, a homemaker, Thomas Christopher Jones was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Grove City, Ohio, where he graduated from high school.
He attended what is now Florida A&M University in Tallahassee on a four-year football scholarship, and after graduating in 1942, he earned a medical degree three years later from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn.
Dr. Jones completed a dual internship at Coney Island Hospital in New York and at the old Provident Hospital. He had a general medical practice in Philadelphia until being called into the Army, where he attained the rank of captain.
After his service ended, he practiced medicine before enrolling at Wayne State University, where he studied to become an ophthalmologist and later was chief resident. He took additional courses in ophthalmology and internal medicine at Harvard Medical School.
He moved to Baltimore in 1959 and established an ophthalmology practice on North Avenue. He later joined a group of physicians who established Garwyn Medical Center on Garrison Boulevard.
In 1991, he moved to West Palm Beach, Fla., where he worked in a clinic. He retired the next year and returned to Baltimore in 2012.
Dr. Jones had marched on several occasions with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., including in one of three Selma-to-Montgomery, Ala., marches that were held in 1965. He was accompanied on one march by a son, David Jones.
"It was phenomenal," said Mr. Jones, who lives in Roanoke, Va., and recalled being driven with his father from the airport to a tent city where marchers had gathered.
"I recall looking into the back seat of a parked highway patrol car and seeing a Ku Klux Klan mask and gown lying in a plastic cleaning bag on the back seat. They wanted us to see that," he said. "And they had also painted down the middle of the road in yellow paint the word 'KKK.' I was 12, and it stood out in my mind."
Dr. Jones held a pilot's license and liked to fly his plane. He also enjoyed boating and riding his motorcycle.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at March Life Tribute Center, 7601 Sandy Spring Road, Laurel.
In addition to his son, Dr. Jones is survived by his wife of 66 years, the former Lillian Campbell; another son, Dr. Wendell E.H. Jones of Dallas; two daughters, Jahari M. Jones of Baltimore and Daryl D. Jones of Severn; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.