Funeral services were Monday for J. Earl Jones, who served as police chief from 1971 to 1973 before resigning in a dispute with the city's public-safety commissioner.
Mr. Jones, 79, died on Thursday from cancer complications.He was a retired and highly decorated Army lieutenant colonel who was a pilot in World War II and served during the Vietnam War with the Army's Green Berets.
Mr. Jones became Salt Lake's police chief in November 1971 when Calvin C. Whitehead resigned over a dispute with then-Commissioner James L. Barker Jr. Barker's successor, Glen N. Greener, took office in January 1974. In late 1974, Greener said he and Mr. Jones suffered from a "lack of communication."
Mr. Jones' forced resignation, supported by then-Mayor Jake Garn and approved 4-0 by the city commission, touched off a flurry of citizen complaints. Mr. Jones had a long career of private and public service before and after his brief tenure as chief.
He was a public safety adviser for the U.S. State Department. He also operated training sites for personnel who controlled the border of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
After resigning as chief, Jones was named chief of security for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City.
In 1982, he served as campaign manager for a county sheriff candidate, David C. Campbell.
Mr. Jones was born Oct. 11, 1918, in Ogden. His wife of 38 years, Ethel Rampton Jones, died in 1989. Funeral services were scheduled at 1 p.m., at the Butler 7th Ward, in Salt Lake County.