Longtime head of VGCC Welding program retires

William J. “Bill” Jones of Oxford recently announced his retirement as head of the Welding Technology program at Vance-Granville Community College. Jones, who was named VGCC Instructor of the Year in 2000, has taught at the college since April 10, 1972.“This is both a joyous and a sad day for Vance-Granville Community College, but especially so for me,” said VGCC Dean of Applied Technologies and Public Service Bobby Van Brunt, on the day of a retirement party for Jones, attended by current and former colleagues, family members and members of the VGCC Welding Advisory Committee. “I’m happy that Bill is embarking on a new adventure in life, but I’m saddened to lose an excellent program head who I think is the outstanding welding instructor in the entire community college system. Bill has certified more than 500 of his students during his career, and his impact on both his students and the local economy is simply incredible. We will miss him, but wish him the best. I’m glad that he waited to retire until I got here, so I could have the chance to work with him.”At the retirement party, James Wheeler, who held Van Brunt’s position until his own retirement as Dean in 2006, presented Jones with a plaque, which commended Jones “for 35 years of dedicated service as Program Head of Welding Technology, and for his legacy of certifying 545 students with the American Welding Society, more than any other community college program head in North Carolina.” Wheeler added that he knew of no instructor who worked harder than Jones, not only to teach his students but also to place them in jobs after graduation. For his part, Jones was quick to also give credit to others who made the VGCC Welding program what it is today, thanking in particular former instructor Wilbur Slaughter, with whom Jones worked for 30 years, as well as every student who has come through the program over the years.Jones is a native of the small Northampton County town of Rich Square. He attended Roanoke-Chowan Technical Institute (now Roanoke-Chowan Community College) in Ahoskie from 1969-71, earning a diploma and advanced diploma in welding. While in school, he worked at his trade both years and also taught welding part-time in a local high school. He worked at College of the Albemarle one year, training people to prepare them for the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company’s welding school.At age 21, Jones decided to strike out on his own and checked to see where jobs were available. Vance County Technical Institute in Henderson was looking for an instructor for a new welding program. “I didn’t even know where Henderson was,” Jones recalled.Before leaving College of the Albemarle, Jones said he received some advice from his supervisor, W. Clayton Morrisette, which has guided him through his teaching career. Morrisette told Jones: “You’re not going to get rich teaching school. How well your students do will tell what you get out of teaching. But if you can change one life so the person will be in better shape, you’ll know the satisfaction of helping people.”“I didn’t fully understand what he meant, but it didn’t take long,” Jones said. “And he WAS 100 percent right. I’ve tried to remember that and act accordingly since I’ve been teaching.”Today, he often hears from former students, who work all over the country, and he knows of at least 35 who own their own businesses. He estimates 98 percent of his graduates are working in the welding field.Through the past 35 years, welding and Vance-Granville Community College have become a family affair for Jones. His sons, Reuben, Bryan and Keith, all enrolled in the Welding program at VGCC. Even Bill Jones’s wife of 32 years, Phyllis, is a VGCC graduate, having finished the Medical Office Technology program in 1993. The Welding Technology program that Jones built at VGCC will carry on without the only program head it has known. But Jones said he has complete confidence leaving the program in the hands of instructor Russell “Rusty” Pace, with whom he has worked for more than eight years. Pace and Jones have known each other since Pace was a Welding student at VGCC in the 1970s.Above: Former VGCC Dean of Applied Technologies and Public Service James Wheeler (center) presents a plaque to retiring Welding Technology program head Bill Jones (right) in a celebration at the Western Sizzlin restaurant in Henderson on April 27. Seated, left, is Jones’s wife, Phyllis. (VGCC Photo)