Hundreds Mourn CPF Secretary-Treasurer Dallas Jones

May 20, 2008 – Apparatus lined the streets surrounding Calvary Chapel in Downey, California, as hundreds gathered to pay their last respects to a man known for tirelessly advocating for fire fighters and the labor movement. California Professional Firefighters (CPF) Secretary-Treasurer Dallas Jones died May 10, 2008, after a courageous battle with lung cancer.

Speaking at the service, IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger remembered his longtime friend. “He was one of the toughest, shrewdest, most effective labor leaders this union has every produced,” said Schaitberger.

“Dallas Jones would never back down from a challenge or a battle, out-thinking and out-strategizing others, using his intellect first, but always ready for the fight if that was required,” Schaitberger continued. “He had the backs of his friends, never wavering. At his very core, Dallas was strong and steadfast.”

Jones was first and foremost a fire fighter. He served with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Local 1014 for 32 years. For more than 15 of those years, he also served as his local’s president.

He also served several terms as CPF Secretary-Treasurer and on many of California’s labor boards. In 1999, then Governor Gray Davis appointed Jones to serve as the Director of the Office of Emergency Services. In that post, he directed California’s response to numerous natural and human-caused emergencies and became one of the nation’s most influential emergency management experts.

Jones is survived by his wife, Lily, his sons, Brian and Michael, and daughter Anna Dallas.