County Fair Treasurer, Altamont City Commissioner Bill Jones Dies

The first full day of this year's Effingham County Fair was tinged with sadness due to the death of Fair Treasurer Bill Jones on Saturday morning.

Jones, who was 78, was working upstairs in the Secretary's Office when those downstairs heard a noise. They went upstairs to check and found Jones unresponsive. He was taken to HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham where he was pronounced dead at 10am.

Jones was a very busy individual. In addition to his duties for the fair, he was an Altamont City Council commissioner. He was active in the City of Altamont's Tree City USA efforts and was also very much involved in work for the First United Methodist Church in Altamont as well as a member of the Altamont Community Choir.

Fair Board President Phil Hartke said at the fairgrounds Saturday afternoon that "Bill would have said 'do what's best for the fair' and so we'll go ahead with things as planned." Moments of silence were held in Jones' memory at both the County Fair Talent Search and Junior Miss Pageant Saturday evening.

Funeral services for Bill Jones will be Wednesday at 10am at First United Methodist Church in Altamont with visitation there from 4-8pm Tuesday.