In Memoriam
The Honorable Jerrauld C. Jones
We remember our friend and Board member Jerrauld C. Jones, a trailblazer and public servant.
We mourn the passing of the Honorable Jerrauld C. Jones.
A member of the Board of Directors of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation since 2018, Jerrauld Jones blazed trails throughout his life, starting as a child when he was one of the first Black students to integrate Norfolk’s Ingleside Elementary School. He later helped to integrate Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg. He graduated cum laude from Princeton University and earned his law degree from Washington and Lee University. In 1980, he became the first Black law clerk at the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Judge Jones’s path in public service took him through all three branches of Virginia’s state government. He served as a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1988 to 2002, representing Norfolk’s 89th District and serving as chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. In 2002, he was appointed by Governor Mark Warner as Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice. He became a judge in 2005, first serving in the Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and then on the Norfolk Circuit Court.
Throughout his life’s journey, with extraordinary compassion and grace, Jerrauld Jones championed justice and equitable opportunity for everyone. All of us who were touched by his presence are the richer for it.
To the chorus of voices lauding his remarkable life, we add ours in tribute. Indeed, the world needs more servant leaders like Jerrauld Jones—men and women who, by their own example, appeal to the better angels of our nature and help make their corner of the world a better place for everyone.
The Honorable Jerrauld C. Jones. Trailblazer. Public servant. Friend.
At his family's request, we are honored to accept memorial gifts to the Visionaries for Change Fund, a giving circle of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. Founded in 2019 by Black business and civic leaders, Visionaries for Change brings together members who pool their resources to support charitable causes that uplift the Black community.