Gaynelle Griffin Jones, 64, Dies

Gaynelle Griffin Jones

Gaynelle Griffin Jones

Gaynelle Griffin Jones, appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, died March 1, 2013, after a three year battle with cancer. Jones also served on the First Court of Appeals in Texas.

After graduating from Boston College Law School, Jones served as a state and federal prosecutor in Louisiana and Texas. She also practiced corporate law in Boston and Houston, most recently as litigation counsel for Hewlett-packard Co. She was also an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at the University of Houston.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Jones and her daughter, Athena Jones, a CNN correspondent.  Click here to view the Houston Chronicle obituary. Funeral services were held on March 9, 2013, where NAFUSA  presented her family with an American flag flown over Main Justice in her honor.

Former NAFUSA executive director Ron Woods represented NAFUSA at the funeral and reported:

I received the attached NAFUSA plaque (photo) Friday afternoon before the Saturday, March 9, 2013 funeral.  Plaque reads “Flown over the US Department of Justice March 5, 2013 in Honor of Gaynelle Griffin Jones, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, 1993-1997”.  Her husband, Robert, and daughter, Athena, asked that the presentation be part of the funeral. I had the honor of making the presentation as part of the funeral proceeding. The family sincerely appreciated the recognition and numerous current and former AUSA’s who were present, thought it was a nice honor that NAFUSA and DOJ bestows on deceased U.S. Attorneys.

2 NAFUSA PLAQUE