Charon Jones

Charon Mae Buchli Jones, age 83 of Oakville, went home to be with our Lord Father in Heaven on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.

Charon was born in Dickenson, North Dakota on October 6, 1938 to parents Helen Keogh Buchli and A.R. Buchli. She often recalled fondly her upbringing on the family ranch in south central Montana. She took great pride in her family’s legacy and immense contributions to the Quarter Horse Industry, including her family’s homebred stallion and AQHA Champion, Bee Bee King, as well as her father’s service as vice-president of the National Quarter Horse Breeders Association. A talented horsewoman, Charon won two Montana Championships and a Montana State High School Championship in Cutting during her high school years. Along with her horse, Soap Suds, she was featured in the December 1961 issue of The Western Horseman.

Charon met the love of her life, Roy (Buddy) Jones while he was rodeoing in Montana. They were married on October 18, 1956, in St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Wibaux, Montana. Soon after, the two settled in Live Oak County making their first home in George West, Texas. In 1961, Charon and Buddy moved to the Jones family ranch in Oakville, where they spent the rest of their married years raising two daughters, quarter horses, and cattle. Through their 65 years of marriage, Charon was often lovingly and jokingly introduced by Buddy as his “first wife.”

Rodeo was a huge part of their lives. Charon traveled many miles, sometimes carrying young daughters, while Buddy competed for a living. They were blessed not only with winnings, but together at the rodeos and at home, they were rich with friends. The number of rodeo families that visited them to train a horse, rope, or share a meal, are too numerous to count.

Charon worked several years for the Live Oak Livestock Auction and then The Progress newspaper. She and Buddy bought the Texaco Gas Station in George West where she worked to help run it for a year. She later went to work as the secretary for the Texas Highway Department in George West, retiring 23 years later in 2002. She was known at the department for keeping both impeccable books and clean flowerbeds.

Charon’s greatest legacy is her love for God and her family. A member of the St. George Catholic Church for 65 years, she relied on her faith in her savior and always encouraged her children and grandchildren to do the same. She was the family Matriarch, and for years her table was full at the Sunday dinners she cooked for loved ones and ranch hands. Charon was a cheerleader during her high school years in Big Timber. She gave up her pom-poms but never lost her spirit. She spent countless days, nights and weekends cheering for her children, and later her grandchildren, at sporting events and rodeos, both near and far from home.

Charon was preceded in death by her parents, Helen and A. R. Buchli; son-in-law, Curtis Clopton; and great-grandson, Gunner Easton Howard.

Charon is survived by her husband, Roy (Buddy) Jones; daughter, Laurie Clopton of Oakville; daughter, Tari and husband Luke Goebel of Oakville; grandchildren, Dustin and wife Meghan Mundorf of San Marcos, Dillon and wife LaTricia Mundorf of Oakville, Denver and husband Ryan Watkins of Morgan Mill, Whitney and husband Cody Howard of Floresville; great-grandchildren, Clay Reed Watkins, Maggie McKay Watkins and Duke Delbert Mundorf.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 1, at Galloway & Sons Funeral Home in Three Rivers.

The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 2, at Galloway & Sons Funeral Home with Mr. Rusty Felts officiating.

Burial will be private on the Jones Family Ranch following the funeral.

Pallbearers will be Dustin Mundorf, Dillon Mundorf, Ryan Watkins, Cody Howard, Clay Reed Watkins and Duke Mundorf.