FORT WALTON BEACH — Questions about the nominations of a former band director and chorus director for Choctawhatchee High School’s Hall of Fame 2013 have sparked discussions throughout the community and online.
The debate started about Sept. 14 after the Choctawhatchee Style Marchers Alumni Association, which is not directly tied to the school, posted a photo on its Facebook page stating Jimmy Ray Jones and his wife Mary Ruth Jones were to be inducted.
Jimmy Ray directed the Style Marchers from 1968 to 1981. Mary Ruth oversaw the chorus from 1968 to 1976 and helped with many of the musical arrangements for the band.
Both died Feb. 18, 1986, when Jimmy Ray shot Mary Ruth and then himself.
“The CSMAA was not part of the Hall of Fame committee,” said Gareth Sterns, a Style Marcher alumnus who helps oversee the nonprofit corporation’s Facebook page. “We’re the vehicle that becomes the sounding board for alumni to voice their opinions.”
According to Principal Cindy Gates, the school’s alumni association oversees the Hall of Fame nomination process, but has not decided which two to five people to induct this year.
“Apparently, some information got out,” Gates said. “It was not an official list … It was not put out by me or the school.”
The induction ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 11 during pre-football game festivities, she added.
The Joneses were nominated for the Hall of Fame by their oldest daughter, Kim Miller.
Miller said she wanted to submit her parents’ names when the Hall of Fame was started last year, but was discouraged from doing so.
This year Miller said she was approached by someone at the school about nominating them. When she hesitated because of the potential controversy, she was told it would all be fine.
“The way they ended, it was personal. They weren’t part of the school,” Miller said of her parents. “I really do feel that they should be recognized for what they did.”
Not everyone shares that opinion. John Moore, a 1978 graduate, said he was immediately concerned when he learned Jimmy Ray Jones was on the list.
“To be honest with you, it made me sick to my stomach,” Moore said.
He supports Mary Ruth Jones being on the list, but said her husband’s final act should exclude him from it.
“There are people who know about it happening and they’re willing to overlook that crime … I don’t know how you do it,” Moore said. “It’s unfathomable to me.”
The alumni committee likely will finalize the list late next week, Gates said.
“The committee is going to have to make the decision,” she said.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.