Submitted by Ruby Bonham
In Memoriam: Ellis “Steve” Jones
Timber Valley residents were saddened by the news of the passing of Ellis “Steve” Jones of Lot 102 on February 10, 2026.
Steve was born August 22, 1943. He was 82 years old. He met his wife, Jackie on a blind date and they were together from then on.
They were married on September 18, 1981 and embarked on a life of adventure. Steve was a firefighter before joining Foretravel Motor Coach Company as a master certified factory service representative. He and Jackie traveled over 300,000 miles across the country doing warranty work on travel coaches. During his off time and then later he ran an RV Repair Service in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. During 2010 to 2012 he and Jackie raced corvettes in Auto-Cross Races.
They got their lot in Timber Valley on July 3, 2014. With his vast knowledge of RVs, he freely gave his time to help out Timber Valley residents. Shortly after coming to the park, he joined up with park musicians to form a band informally called 4 Bees and a Jay (Bonham, Bonham, Brown, Burns and Jones). Steve played a gut bucket, an inverted tub with a cord out of the middle attached to a stick to keep it taut. Band members often teased him did he need to borrow a tuner to tune up. He would laugh, pluck high and low and nod that yep it was in tune. The band provided entertainment in the clubhouse when all the members were here for the summer.
Steve and Jackie had 4 standard poodle therapy dogs that they took to schools for reading programs. The dogs were also taken to Hospice to give comfort to end of life patients.
Steve and Jackie were never apart for 44 years, sharing their love and concern for those around them. Their home base is in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Jackie has a good support group of people and two therapy dogs to comfort her. She will keep her lot here and hopes to come back during summers.
Steve is survived by his wife, Jackie, his sons, Matt, Randy and Chris and Jackie’s daughter Jill He was preceded in death by his son, Don killed in a motorcycle accident. We will miss his pure joy as he plucked his gut bucket and his genuine kindness.
Valley and the Bluegrass Jam in Sutherlin!
