Hartzell Stanley “Buck” Jones Jr., 77, of Shad Point near Salisbury, died March 30, 2026 at TidalHealth Nanticoke hospital in Seaford, Del. after an extended illness.

Born in Shad Point, he was the son of Hartzell Stanley Jones Sr. and Margaret Amelia (Jones) Jones (later Sauerhoff). They preceded him in death along with his aunt, Charlotte Leroy Jones, and his brother, Albert Leroy Jones II.

He was called Buck almost from birth, thanks to his maternal grandfather, Albert Jones. Pop Pop Albert declared that he was going to use “Buckshot,” – “Buck” for short – rather than the baby’s given name.

Buck was a proud member of the Class of 1966, the first graduating class of James M. Bennett Senior High School. He played varsity basketball, football and baseball, creating memories he treasured and shared throughout his life. First among these was one at bat from the end of the JMB baseball team’s first varsity season, in a game played across town at traditional powerhouse Wicomico High. With some home team fans heckling the Clippers, Buck responded in the best possible way by hitting the ball over the fence for a home run. The moment was preserved forever in his senior yearbook writeup as “the hit heard ‘round the town.” He also earned the trophy as the team’s top hitter that season.

He was a member of the JMB Safety Club and the Key Club and he worked on the Log. He continued to be a proud and loyal member of the Class of ’66 throughout his life, supporting a scholarship named for the class so that ensuing generations of students could receive money for college. He supported both education and athletics. After the JMB Baseball team (with his granddaughter Molly as one of the managers) won the state championship in 2019, he paid for the championship rings for the entire team anonymously, asking that any acknowledgement be given to the Class of ’66.

After graduating from James M. Bennett Senior High, Buck attended Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) on an ROTC scholarship. He played football and baseball for the Green Terror, and was in Alpha Gamma Tau fraternity. He graduated in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.

While his football career ended with his time at Western Maryland, his legacy there lived on for many years in training films. Playing as the right tackle in a game in which the quarterback fumbled the ball, Buck alertly picked up the loose ball, spotted a receiver far downfield and threw for a reception that turned into a touchdown. Coaches showed the play to incoming Western Maryland football players for many, many years as an example of how important it is for every player on the team to be aware of the action around them and be ready to take action when the opportunity arises, for the good of the team.

Buck returned to the Shore after college and worked for a little while at Dresser Industries before taking a long-term substitute teacher job at Pittsville High School, filling in after the teacher had passed away. After that he was hired as a full-time physical education teacher at Mardela Middle & High School around 1971. While there he taught other subjects as needed, including math and science, and he coached the school’s boy’s basketball team until he left Mardela in 1978.

Buck also served in the U.S. Army Reserves in Chincoteague starting in 1970, working his way up from first lieutenant to captain.

In 1971 he married Noralynn (Taylor) Sahler at the county courthouse in Snow Hill after a whirlwind two-week courtship – though he had first fallen in love with her in Sunday School when she was the prettiest little girl he had ever seen. They were married for 55 years. When Buck married young widow Noralynn he became a dad to her son, 4-year-old Erick, whom he adopted later in life. Their daughter, Kate, was born in 1982. Nothing was more important to Buck than his family.

Deciding to leave teaching, Buck worked as a delivery driver for Sunbeam Bakery for a couple of years starting in 1978. He then worked on the Steuart Transportation tugboat the Holly S as second engineer, moving barges on the waterways of the Chesapeake Bay region along with his brother-in-law, Kevin Taylor. Then Buck and his brother, Albert, went into business together as partners in Jones Brothers Construction, later Riverside Homebuilders. They framed houses throughout Wicomico County, including all of Hunters Mill, Coulbourn Mill and Coulbourn Woods. The brothers also framed up the commercial building for TCBY (now Island Creamery), and as one of their last jobs together built a dream home on Allen Pond for the Rev. Dr. Laurence Hull Stookey, then pastor of Allen Asbury United Methodist Church and former professor of teaching and worship at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Over the years Buck built his own house and a house for son Erick and his family, and made or managed extensive renovations to a house for daughter Kate and family. These homes stand as enduring testimony to his skills as a builder, his commitment to taking care of his family, and his belief in the importance of a good home.

Buck coached softball for some of daughter Kate’s teams, played with Erick, Tracy and Kate on the Krazy Kats recreational softball team, and enjoyed watching his grandchildren play softball or perform on the stage in dance and voice recitals, plays and musicals. He liked watching NASCAR and Alabama football and playing golf. Buck was a good cook, and his Holly S Casserole was a family favorite. He also enjoyed spending time with a few close friends, including Robert Adkins, Wayne Smith, and Mike Jones and his family.

Buck loved to plan and take road trips, driving throughout much of the continental United States and eastern Canada. He especially enjoyed visiting national parks and historic sites. He amassed a large collection of mugs and hats as souvenirs of these travels and always kept a road atlas beside his chair for reference when telling travel stories.

Buck never tired of learning about history, whether from reading a multi-book biography of Winston Churchill or tromping through the woods and fields with Robert Adkins in search of gravestones, old millponds and dams, and historical markers, including ones marking the Mason-Dixon Line. He was a member of the Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society, and had traced his family’s history in North America back to a time even before the United States was formed.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Noralynn Taylor Sahler Jones of Shad Point; his children, Kate Lynn Jones Lynch (Brian Francis Lynch) of Shad Point and Frederick William “Erick” Sahler IV (Tracy Myrup Sahler) of Shad Point; four grandchildren, Alison M. Sahler of Denver, Molly M. Sahler of Columbia, Md., and Audrey E. Lynch and Clara K. Lynch of Shad Point; two sisters-in-law, Lola Bright Jones (husband Albert Leroy Jones II, deceased) and Jill Riggin Taylor (husband Kevin Taylor, deceased); a brother-in-law, Tom Taylor of Darnestown, Md.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Family and friends will gather at a later date to share stories and appreciations of Buck Jones.

Contributions may be made in his memory to the James M. Bennett High Class of ’66 Scholarship, maintained through the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore. Checks should be made out to Community Foundation, with JMB Class of ’66 Scholarship Fund in the memo line, and mailed to Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, 1324 Belmont Ave. Suite 401, Salisbury MD 21804.

Arrangements are being handled by Short Funeral Home in Delmar, DE.