Derek Jones arrived in Botswana in 1954, accompanied by his newly married wife, Joan, to take up the post of district superintendent of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in Maun. He might then have assumed or perhaps even wished that his role would be no different from those of the many LMS missionaries who had preceded him.
Yet within 12 years, and in startling contrast, he was mayor of a national capital, Gaberones, which had not previously existed, and dancing with Princess Marina in the Independence Ball.Derek died in England last week aged 86. About 56 of those years were spent in this country. Paradoxically, however, any attempt to convey some idea of his lifetime of service and achievement cannot begin with him, as is customary, but with her. After Derek had done his compulsory two years of national service in the Royal Air Force in Egypt, he achieved a degree at Oxford University in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and was then ordained in the Congregational Church. He then married Joan. For the next 48 years until her death in 2004, the two were inseparable. Yet they were opposites. She was voluble, unabashed, uninhibited, exuberant and always relishing life. He was reserved, quietly spoken, detail conscious, undemonstrative and wary of extravagant opinion. Without her, he could only have been a very different person. But then without him, so might she! When she died, their four children and their extended family life helped to fill what must have been an awful void.
