Message from the Chair | July 22nd, 2026

Message from the Chair: Celebrating Alma Jones, a leading supporter of the BC Sports Hall of Fame

BY TOM MAYENKNECHT

There are so many profound life lessons associated with the wins and losses of sport and the power of sport history to inspire the next generation of young British Columbians and Canadians. They include, of course, team play and collaboration, where it’s made clear that we’re stronger together than as individuals. That’s true for both team disciplines and individual sports, where there’s almost always a team effort that’s relied upon to create success stories, even if it’s often behind the scenes and in the background.

Sport’s life lessons also include the value of shared leadership. Rare is it in sport that a winning team has just one leader. In fact, gold medal performances are often the result of the synergies that are created when leaders play off each other, each contributing a key ingredient to the recipe of excellence.

Best practices in sport include continuity, where the consistency of best efforts allow for the continuous improvement that is the Japanese principle of Kaizen. Among other things, sport is also very much about respect, not just for the rules of the game but for both teammates and opponents.

Alma Etil Jones reflected all of those life lessons that are synonymous with sport.

She did so in her career as a nurse, in her years of loving golf in particular and sport in general and in her love affair of more than 60 years with her husband Ron M. Jones. She did so as the prototypical partner and difference-maker. She did so as a daughter, a sister, wife, mom, grandmother and great grandmother. Most of all, she did so as an elegant champion of family, friendships and community.

She was so proud of her own hole-in-one on the golf course, but mostly, she was proud of the achievements of her family, friends and those in the communities that defined her life. She was always ahead of the curve when it came to recognizing those accomplishments, celebrating them and making sure they were part of her family history, her community history.

That’s why she has been such an important role model supporter for the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

Alma was not only a former “First Lady” of the BC Sports Hall of Fame when her husband Ron served as Chair of the Board of Trustees, but she was also a former First Lady of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League during the time that Ron was team President. Ron is a W.A.C. Bennett Award winner as an honoured member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame (and BC Football Hall of Fame). Yet it’s so compellingly appropriate that her name will be forever associated with the BC Sports Hall of Fame through the $1 million endowment made by the Ron and Alma Jones Family Foundation. It is the largest single philanthropic gift in the history of the BC Sports Hall of Fame, which was founded 60 years ago in 1966.

As such, the Ron and Alma Jones Family Foundation is and will continue to be a bedrock for the BC Sports Hall of Fame. And whenever an annual donation is made as part of a matching strategy, Alma Jones will be remembered for her support of the Sports Hall.

To that end, we are proud to be one of the four community pillars of the Ron and Alma Jones Family Foundation, along with Special Olympics BC, the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation and BC Children’s Hospital. Yet more than anything, we are proud that Alma believed to the extent that she did in the BC Sports Hall of Fame as a driving force in honouring the past and inspiring the future.

Alma Etil Jones passed away on June 22nd after a courageous year-long fight against cancer. Yet she will never be forgotten by family, friends and community. She will always be a special part of the BC Sports Hall of Fame and a role model supporter and promoter of sport’s life lessons.

We will forever strive to live up to Alma’s highest standards – and her family’s highest standards — in everything that we do as the province’s go to story tellers in sport, recognizing those who have shaped BC sport history, heritage and culture.

Alma and Ron Jones

To learn more about Alma Jones, please read her obituary: Alma Jones Obituary

Tom Mayenknecht, Chair
BC Sports Hall of Fame

Tom Mayenknecht is the Chair of the BC Sports Hall of Fame. A principal at Emblematica Brand Builders in Vancouver and a nationally recognized sport business commentator and founder and host of The Sport Market, he is a strong advocate for KidSport, Right To Play and other children’s charities, including the Sports Hall’s own Hero in You programs. He is also a member of the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame as a builder.