Today, Mr. Jones seems the very model of caring California calm. Wiki User. But the boy was still a child of the Temple. You want a revolution. Jim Jones had wanted his son and friends to cut short their stay and return to Jonestown where a group headed by California Congressman Leo Ryan was starting an investigation into reports of abuse there. He dreams he sees the men and women he knew, older now, changed by the years. You May Also Like To Read: Patrick Bet-David Considers Herseld Lucky As She Considers Him The Best Husband in Every Aspect! Mr. Jones spent the night there, much of it "in a fetal position, sobbing like a baby, saying prayers, offering apologies." At another White Night in spring or summer 1978, Stephan wanted to see if his father would call of the event on his own, so he told his mother of his plan for both of them to stand back and watch (Reiterman 425). "I was building me a place, too," he says. When Smith reunited with his mother and wife in Jonestown, Ollie was 8 months pregnant. "The temple was still my only life, and I didn't really see any alternative to it," he says. Stephans high school experience was marked by grueling weekend temple trips, multiple switches in schools, difficulty making friends outside of the temple, and sports (Reiterman 309). Although Laotian refugees briefly lived there in the early 1980s, nothing of the original settlement remains. The temple really became my family, she said. On June 1, 1959, Stephan Gandhi Jones, Jim and Marceline's only biological child, was born. We built a community out of nothing in four years, recalled Touchette, now a 65-year-old grandfather who has worked for a Miami hydraulics company for nearly 30 years. Grueling field work was not to her liking. Jonestown: It was the bodies that photographers favored most. He was in Georgetown, Guyana on November 18, 1978 with the Jonestown Basketball Team. Stephan Jones Seeks Forgiveness For Jonestown Massacre, Late Jim Jones Son Stephan Jones Is An Actor, Who is Brandon T. Jackson? Today, at 47, Stephan Jones says he doesn't "think a heck of a lot about the past. By September 8, Stephan was questioning the validity of the crisis, and made a game out of surprising people on the Temple trucks. And I've come to believe in a God, creator of all things, all powerful, all knowing, incredibly loving, but it's a God far beyond any religion I've ever encountered. ", Stephan Jones spent three months in a Guyana jail after the November deaths, imprisoned there while Guyanese authorities tried to determine who had killed the devoted Peoples Temple aide Sharon Amos and her three children, all of whom were found with their throats slashed in the Georgetown Temple headquarters on the day of the suicides. Stephan Jones was a nearly full-grown teen-ager when his father sent him to the Peoples Temple agricultural mission in the small South American coastal country of Guyana. They are amused; they embrace him. The founder of Scientology,L. Ron Hubbard, passed in 1986. He loved it. When Congressman Ryan and his party came to Jonestown, Stephan and the rest of the basketball team was away in Georgetown competing against the local team. Stephan always argued against these plans. Stephan is the only living son of Jim Jones and his late wife. As a self-taught bulldozer operator, he worked alongside other Peoples Temple members in the humid heat, his blade carving roads and sites for wooden buildings with metal roofs. I've certainly seen some wonderful things come out of religion, not least from my mother's parents and her sister. "It's like you went to a vacation in Europe and found out the United States had sunk," he says. Acting has become a hobby for Stephan Gandhi Jones. Mr. Jones first travelled to Jonestown in early 1977 and worked on clearing land for the settlement and building housing for the devotees of the Peoples Temple. What we were calling the cause really was Jim, she said. It's like my hurt for them, or my missing them, is the only thing I have left of them." He dreams he is in a crowd, and his father is talking about suicide. When he was ordered to Georgetown to help with supply shipments, Smith said he concocted an escape plan: Ollie and other temple singers and dancers, he believed, would soon be sent to Georgetown to perform, and the family would flee to the U.S. Embassy. It was Stephan Jones who managed security--who carried a gun, watched over temple members and planned group escape routes--when Jim Jones began summoning his community into a frenzied series of meetings to prepare for imminent attacks from outside. . Reverend Jim Jones gave the order when California Congressman Leo Ryan came to investigate reports of abuse and false imprisonment, only to end up among more than 900 dead (a third of whom were children). Jim Jones. A basketball game saved Stephan Gandhi Jones's life. Reiterman, T., & Jacobs, J. 'Baby killer. In 1961, Jones earned a degree in secondary education from Butler University in Indianapolis. He was in Georgetown, Guyana on November 18, 1978 with the Jonestown Basketball Team. The 21-year-old Indiana native felt pride pioneering in the distant jungle of Guyana, South America. Children of cult leaders often struggle with that notoriety throughout their life. Jonestowns haunted son. stephan gandhi jonesupper st clair student directory Szent Gellrt Fesztivl 2020 stephan gandhi jones look alike gucci sandals. . Plunged into a new world, those raised in the temple or who joined as teens lost the only life they knew: church, jobs, housing and most of all, family and friends. And she could only sense the site of the pavilion, the once-vibrant center of Jonestown life where so many died including her two sisters and two nephews. As of December 2020, Stephan Jones has remained active in the conversation around Jonestown, taking part in interviews, appearing in documentaries, and writing reflections and articles of his own. For a long time I thought they felt the convulsions before they died, until somebody assured me that you pass out before you feel the convulsions. Though Stephan was public about his sorrow toward the movement and his anger toward his father, he used his platform to constantly reemphasize the humanity and sanity of the members of Peoples Temple. "I don't think his own ego would let him run out on that toward the very end," he says. . This sniper attack, plus the escalating political battle over John Victor Stoen, escalated into a full-blown crisis with the entire community being put on lock-down in preparation for an attack, possibly by mercenaries backed by Tim Stoen (Reiterman 362). "I knew I didn't want to, but I didn't know quite how to confront him or present my case . If anything, we felt pity for him, he said, and it grew into a dislike, maybe hate.. "I got sick of the same speeches, the insisting people stay awake, the constantly testing people." He is a member of famous Actor with the age 64 years old group. Stephan went into shock, horrified by the finality of the deaths, and overwhelmed with hopelessness (Reiterman 546). Celebs Wiki Stephan Jones fans also viewed: Paul Reed (actor) Prior to Stephan's birth, Jim and Marceline had adopted two children from Korea: a four-year-old named Stephanie and a two-year-old renamed Lew Eric. Now 58, he owns a modular office furniture business in the East Bay and is married with a daughter. He went through years of nightmares, mourning and shame. The Joneses adopted a black baby in Indiana in 1960, and Jim gave the 10-week-old infant his own name. However, it is known that his brother, Stephan Gandhi Jones, has a daughter named JimJones III. Ollie worked in the nursery, and Eugene felled trees. (AP Photo/File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news, assassination of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan and four others. Then, after a 1977 New West magazine expose of temple disciplinary beatings and other abuses, she was sent to Jonestown. ", He does not think he loved his father even a little by then, but blood tied them in some way he did not entirely understand, and leaving was unimaginable. container: 'taboola-right-rail-thumbnails', That wont work. ", Stephan Jones used to say he could have stopped the slaughter if he had been there. There is little his father said or taught him then that stays with him now; his memory is of a man wandering around the house in his underwear or his pajamas, sleeping by day, watching the news or "Hogan's Heroes" on television and announcing that he could tell whether his son was lying simply by staring into his eyes. I mean, one thing's for sure: it happened, and there's no taking it back, so, my God, let's make the best of it. I would either have had to fight, or I would have taken it. Now, Stephan is a father of three daughters, ages 16 . This time in Stephans life was marked with pride, enthusiasm, and community. Each day's news bulletins compounded the already unimaginable: There were 400 bodies; there were 900 bodies; there were, in the precise wording of the American military men sent to investigate, "smaller bodies under larger bodies and children under those." . One day, at Stephans preferred Lake Mendocino, the Jones family took chase after some teenagers that had been stoning waterfowl. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones. Instead of finishing high school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco, where she lived in the church. You're not taking any more drugs." He was summoned to the temple radio room. Its not that easy (Reiterman 405). "I think he would be admitting in his own warped mind that he was not this great revolutionary he had tried to build himself up to be . In an hour, that promise was broken.. When his mother eventually moved to Jonestown, he bonded with her over their anger toward Jim Jones (Reiterman 401). Some of the original settlers, included Stephan, resented the new arrivals who second-guessed their work (Reiterman 348). "I remember being afraid when he started talking about it, and getting butterflies," he says. (The fear that the result of the investigation would spell the end of the jungle utopia prompted some of Jim Jones's acolytes to kill the congressman, among others, and unleash the "revolutionary suicide" that claimed 914 lives, including those of almost 300 children.). "This" happens to be Stephan Jones childhood was spent in the community of the Peoples Temple, which had both benefits and drawbacks. With their lives, the story of Jonestown continues, even now. View their profile including current address, phone number 415-785-XXXX, background check reports, and property record on Whitepages, the most trusted online directory. Forgiveness for the Jonestown Massacre is sought by Stephan Jones. Peoples Temple lost the game, but only by 10 points, which seemed worth celebrating. There he argued with Tim Stoen, but didnt gain any information on what was happening in Jonestown (Reiterman 544). When the prodigals visited, the Cobbs kept it secret from Jones. He plays forward. But after temple gunmen killed the congressman, three newsmen and a church defector on the Port Kaituma airstrip, Jones ordered a poisoned grape-flavored drink administered to children first. Stephan GandhiJones was away at a basketball game in Georgetown when his father,Jim Jones, ordered the Peoples Temple mass suicide in 1978 at a compound in Guyana, dubbed "Jonestown." You know what would happen if you killed Jim Jones now?Some of the seniors think hes God and hes their only hope. "I don't even know who my loved ones were with when they died," he says softly. I would argue that the means justify the end, but not the other way around. algol in 12th house; michael kroger current partner; daniels funeral home rio rancho obituaries; After the Jonestown massacre, Stephan spent three months in a Guyanese jail as authorities tried to confirm the cause of death for Sharon Amos and her family. They have, however, moved on with their lives. His mother is fine, they say. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 62 years old? Photos courtesy of Stephan Jones, acquired via Reiterman 134. He is able to weep, but worries about letting himself begin; he says it feels a little like pulling his finger from a crack in the dam. He grew up in Indiana, then eventually moved with the Peoples Temple to Ukiah, California. "I did my time in hell on earth after it was all over," he confessed. There are moments when he glimpses the edges of power and understands precisely how it might be used. Stephan and Marceline both argued against it, but eventually both gave in and Stephan went at his mothers request, agreeing to go for only a week, though as soon as he arrived in Jonestown he was informed that his position would be permanent (Reiterman 310). He has taken a lead role in a 40th Jonestown anniversary memorial to be held Sunday at Oaklands Evergreen Cemetery, where remains of unclaimed and unidentified victims are buried. Stephan felt that the attack was real, though he knew his father wasnt above staging such episodes (Reiterman 361). Little Jimmy became part of their Rainbow Family of white, black, Korean-American and Native American children. 'I was his son.' They have three daughters in all. "I still get very angry," Stephan Jones says. In a 2019 interview, Stephan stated, I just wish people could understand what was attractive about him. Jordan Vilchezs parents were Berkeley progressives in the 1960s her father African-American, her mother Scotch-Irish. The murders and suicides were unfolding, 150 miles away. Public figures/National and international names: President John Kennedy Dr. Karl Irvin, Disciples of Christ Trailers, a few clearings and some wood or pole-and-canvas buildings were all that marked the Jonestown settlement when Stephan Jones arrived. To just be somewhere with a machete, in khakis, and just decide I wanted to go somewhere and cut myself a trail." Jones often tried to involve Stephan in his various deceptions, including one in which Stephan would pretend to be shot while going to greet a lawyer from the U.S. (Reiterman 375), and one in which Stephan would pretend to kidnap John Stoen in a bag and then pretend to rescue him from his assailant (Reiterman 398). He pushes through the crowd, but he cannot get to his father. (n.d.). Then it was boxing matches for adults. The type of unchecked power that comes with starting a cultoften seems to translate to sexual relationships as well. Stephan soon found himself loving Jonestown, benefitting from the hard physical labor and intense comradery amongst early settlers (Reiterman 312). are james acaster and rose matafeo still friends; denver flight 9 crash 99 dead; san luis obispo murders 2020; catriona pendrigh found dead The Holidate Stars Dating History, Elle Kings PCOS-related weight loss struggles and miraculous pregnancy, Jared Sullinger Wife, Bio, Net Worth, Age, Wiki, Family, Salary. Then they could identify and allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a thing could happen (Sharir). Some information may no longer be current. yakima skybox latch problem; busta paga errata in difetto. The people involved include Agnes Pauline Jones, Timothy Glen Jones, Jim Jon Prokes, Jim W. Jones Jr, Lew Eric Jones, John Moss Jones, Suzanne O. Jones, and Stephanie Jones. placement: 'Right Rail Thumbnails', ", Stephan Jones' lips draw back when he talks about his father; he looks for an instant like a cornered dog. the jones firstborn Though he waved and smiled at Peoples Temple services, seemingly enraptured like the rest, Stephan Gandhi Jones says he always had his doubts. "I just say something like, 'You remember Jonestown?' .' The Jonestown settlers worked hard, sometimes until 11:00 pm (Reiterman 312). STEPHAN Gandhi Jones is - in the eyes of the world - the son of a mass murderer. 5 Things You Didnt Know About Flavien Prats Wife, Places Where Celebrities Like to Spend Their Vacations, Meet Stephan Gandhi Jones Photos Of Late Jim Jones Son With Wife Marceline Jones. It won't work.' . The church provided free drug rehabilitation, medical care, food. We have estimated As a self-taught bulldozer operator, he worked alongside other Peoples Temple members in the humid heat, his blade carving roads and sites for wooden buildings with metal roofs. Stephan believed that that time in prison helped prepare him for re-entry into the world, and helped him to mellow out (Gorney). Stephan Jones' mother was one of those found dead from cyanide poisoning. He says the congregation was full of elderly people, many of them hard-working black men and women who had given this minister everything they possessed. And if it hadn't, his 19-year-old body would almost certainly have been among the 900-plus corpses sprawled about the Guyanese jungle compound whose name, almost 30 years on, remains synonymous with the dangers of religious mania, cultish devotion and the perverting power of peer pressure: Jonestown. In California, he was steeped in temple life. It marched for four jailed Fresno newsmen. Im sorry. . Stephan was proud when Jones caught one boy, shook him furiously, and lectured him (Reiterman 103). It was all about survival in his domain. Jonestown: Paradise Lost, a 100-minute TV docudrama about the final crazed days of the wannabe multiracial utopia in equatorial South America and the 47-year-old zealot and megalomaniac who ordered the mass suicide and murder, thereby ensuring that Nov. 18, 1978, would be a day that would live in infamy. But cult leaders' kids have to face issues most children would never even dream of. . In the days before Ryans fact-finding mission to the settlement, the players were in Georgetown for a tourney with the Guyana national teams. Cite this record He continued to play basketball, and was active in other ways, swimming, riding his bike, and lifting weights (Gorney). He later earned a degree in psychology from San Francisco State University. In Ukiah, Stephan tired of the repetitive, high-energy Temple sessions and would sometimes sneak out with his friends and brothers. He limps this month, still recovering from a broken ankle bone that went undetected for a while, but when he is well he picks up a regular game in San Francisco, sometimes with the young men he played with before--the basketball team from the Peoples Temple settlement at Jonestown, Guyana. "It was not bad people who did it," he says. Jim was the Rev. Stephan believed that church members preferred Jimmy (James Jones Jr.) over him, which sometimes resulted in teasing and fights between the two (Reiterman 104). Stephan Gandhi Jones, age 60s, lives in Petaluma, CA. The bodies surrounded a podium from which Jim Jones, aided by armed men to hold down the unwilling, had cried out in encouragement while men, women, and children drank red Flavor-Aid mixed with potassium cyanide. Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, poses for a portrait near San Rafael, Calif. 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