On Friday, the Covington County chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution presented its second DAR Distinguished Citizen Medal to Fletcher Jones.

Jones and his wife, Jean, along with their children and grandchildren, were honored with a lunch at the Andalusia Area Chamber.

Chapter President Brenda Gouge said the award was started last year, and chapters can present two each year.

Jones served in the Navy during World War II, joining when he was 17. He was in the Pacific, and said in a previous interview he was spared being part of Iwo Jima only by engine trouble. He later learned that his older brother was one of five Marines left standing in the battle.

After the war, he earned a law degree at the University of Alabama, where he met his wife.

The couple moved to Andalusia after completing their educations. Jones began a law practice and later served in the legislature. He remains proud of the work he did to improve the plight of the mentally ill in Alabama.

Mrs. Jones is a longtime member of the DAR, and a former chapter regent.

“Fletcher will be 90, and we won’t speak of how old I am,” Mrs. Jones said Friday. “We have lived full lives. The Lord has just blessed us.”

Family members on hand for the presentation included John and Amy Jones; Trip and Lori Jones; Lex and Susan Short, Alex and Ada; Karen Jones; Wilson and Sara Catherine Patrick and Emma; and Karen Jones.

Also attending was John Givhan, who received the chapter’s first citizenship award earlier this year.