BUFFALO - An open-house reception in memory of Paul Vance Jones, 65, will be held Friday beginning at 11 a.m. at the family home, 25 Robinson Lane in Buffalo.

Interment will be held privately at a later date on the ranch he operated for 30 years near Arvada.

He died at his home Aug. 23, 2001, after battling cancer.

Born March 29, 1936, in Sheridan to Herbert and Gertrude Owen Jones, he was raised on the family ranch near Kirby, Mont., and received his early years of schooling at Big Bend School.  He continued his education in Sheridan where he graduated in 1954.

After high school, he attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he majored in mechanical engineering.  He joined the Army and served at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver.

After his military duty, he returned to the family ranch at Kirby, where he was in partnership with his family.

In 1962, he married Kay Moore Bondi, and they made their home on a ranch near Arvada.

He married a second time on March 24, 1979, to Kandra Carr Knudson.  He continued to live and work at the ranch near Arvada and his home in Buffalo until the time of his death.

He served on numerous boards and committees, including the predator board for both Johnson and Sheridan counties for many years.  He also served on the board of directors for Farm Credit Services of the Midlands' Production Credit Association from 1990 through 2000.  Prior to serving on the association board, he served on the PCA regional board from 1986 to 1990.  He was also an experienced commercial pilot and had been flying since the early 1960s.

Survivors include his wife, Kandra of Buffalo; three sons, Steve Jones of Anchorage, Alaska, Wesley I. Bondi of Sheridan and Chris Knudson and his wife of Gillette; two daughters, Kuyler Jones Coopwood and her husband of Boulder and Karmen Knudson of Arvada; and on grandson of Newcastle.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Bob Jones.

Adams Funeral Home in Buffalo has charge of arrangements.