F. Lewis Jones, after graduating from Thomasville (Georgia) High School, served in U.S. Army bands (1953-1956), he attended Florida State University (1956-1960), Performing on trumpet with the Symphonic Band for 4 years, in the Marching Chiefs, and several other School of Music ensembles during his tenure, he received a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1960, graduating as a Pi Kappa Lambda member.
Lewis was Band Director at Greensboro (FL) High School (1960-1963), Vigor High School in Mobile (AL) (1963-1966), and Leon High School (Tallahassee) (1966-1978). During his career, his band programs were consistently rated Superior in marching, concert, jazz and solo/ensemble performances at District and State FBA Festivals, and were recognized nationally for their quality of performances.
A Masters in Music Education at F.S.U. was earned in 1975.
From 1978 to 1983 Lewis was Church Administrator/Music Director/Treasurer at John Wesley United Methodist Church (Tallahassee). While at John Wesley, he served as chair of various committees and as volunteer music director for 10 years prior to his full time employment.
In 1963 Lewis was inducted as the youngest charter member of Omega (Florida) Chapter of the national bandmasters fraternity, Phi. Beta Mu. In 1976 he was a co-recipient of the MAC Award by First Chair of America as one of the two outstanding Florida Band Directors for that year. He became an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi in 1976, and in 1986 and again in 2001, he was presented the award for Outstanding Contributor to Music Education by Phi Beta Mu. In 1993, Lewis was appointed as the Florida Music Educators Association Representative on the Board of the Florida High School Activities Association, where he had served as unofficial representative for the FBA for many years. In 1994 he was selected as the Section 3 (Southeast) representative on the Music Committee of the National Federation Interscholastic Music Association.
1995 marked his induction into the Florida Bandmasters Association Hall of Fame, and in 1997 into the Florida Music Educators Association Hall of Fame. Recent awards include the Outstanding Leadership Award presented by the FMEA, and the Florida School Music Association Distinguished Leadership Award presented in 2000.
Lewis has been a clinician-conductor of District Honor Bands in Florida and Georgia, an Adjudicator for Solo and Ensembles and Concert Bands in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
Most of Lewis’ career has been marked by service to his students and to the professional leadership and administrative aspects of Florida music education. After just two years of teaching, he was elected District Secretary of the old District 6 (Tallahassee area) of the FBA. In Mobile, he served 2 of the 3 years he was in that state as a District Chairman. Upon his return to Florida in 1966, he became District Secretary, then District Chairman during the 1967-71 school years. From 1971-74 he was President-elect, President and Past-President of the FBA, the youngest person to serve in that capacity up to that time. Immediately following this stint in office, he was elected President-elect of the Florida Music Educators Association, serving as President in 1975-79. He also was President of the Omega chapter Phi Beta Mu for 2 years during the ’70s. More recently, Lewis was involved in the planning, organization and institution of the new Florida School Music Association, the governing association for school music activities in Florida.
While in the US Army in 1953-56 at Fort Jackson SC, Lewis met Carol Ruth Smith from Columbia, and upon his discharge in 1956 and beginning college at Florida State University, they were married in December of that year. Two of their three children were born while he was in college at FSU, with a third born in Mobile in 1963. Kendall Lewis Jones, the oldest son, was Band Director at Dodgen Middle School in Marietta, GA, and is now Music Director at Northbrook United Methodist Church in Roswell, Georgia. Married to Carol Carroll, they have 2 boys, Kyle (age 21), a sophomore at Clemson, and Brannon (age 18). Daughter Karen Elizabeth, a degreed registered nurse, is married to Timothy Few and lives in Tallahassee with their 2 children, son David (age 18) and daughter Karilyn (age 14). Son Kerry Earl is married to Nan Lipsey and they live in Hoover, AL,, where he is Minister of Christian Recreation at Hunter Street Baptist Church. They have one child, Lillian, age 8 years.
Mr. Jones retired in September 2000 after serving 17 years as Executive Director of the Florida Bandmasters Association, a 1200+ member professional organization of secondary school and college band directors. Lewis is currently an adjunct assistant professor of music education at Florida State University, observing and supervising student teachers during their internship.