Cedar City, UT - Cedar City native and noted artist, Jim Jones, died peacefully at his home in Rockville, Utah on December 5, 2009. He was 76 years old. He was one of two surviving sons of Elton L. and Thelma E. Jones, preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Alan Scott Jones. He has been recognized as an artist of note, not just in the Southern Utah area but nationally and internationally. He started sketching and painting at a very young age and by the end of his high school years he knew he was destined to be a painter. His first professional art training came through study at the Art Center School in Los Angeles. He also studied at UCLA, received his Bachelors of Fine Arts from University of Utah and continued toward his MFA. He began painting his Masters thesis in Mexico where he spent every winter for fourteen years, alternating with summers spent at the family cabin on Cedar Mountain. At that time he was known for his portrait and figure paintings. As this nations Bicentennial approached, he began painting the landscapes of Zion Canyon. That early project was so enthusiastically received that he expanded his studies to Grand Canyon. His early supporters were State Bank of Southern Utah and the LDS Church. Many of his paintings hang in LDS Temples. Jones estimated that he had completed 1,400 canvases in his lifetime, the majority of which were of Zion and Grand Canyon. He built a home in Rockville overlooking Zion Canyon, modeled on the old Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge. It was a work of art in its own right. Many of the areas best known craftsman had a part in constructing it. It was from this home with its unparalleled views of Zion that Jones completed many of his paintings. Jones had a lifetime dream of seeing a significant art museum built in Cedar City. To that end he endowed SUU with his last 14 paintings and his home. The president of the University, Michael Benson, said that this endowment was enough for the University to anticipate ground breaking for the museum in 2010. Jones is today held in the highest regard by his peers, art critics, collectors and art professionals. He is survived by his brother, Gary Jones of Salt Lake City, sisters; Dorothy J. Roller of San Jose, California and Patricia J. Embley of Pleasant Grove. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 12 oclock noon at the Cedar City LDS 17th Ward Chapel, 256 South 900 West, Cedar City, Utah. A visitation will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the chapel, prior to services. Interment will be held 3pm at the Springdale Cemetery, Springdale, Utah. Arrangements entrusted to the care of Hurricane Valley Mortuary, (435)635-9922. Jim had requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Souther Utah Museum of Art in care of SUU Advancement offices (435) 586-7755.