10-03-2025
Westminster community mourns loss of Coach Gary Jones after body recovered from Lake Oconee
Heartbreak and grief, that's the feeling of the community where Gary Jones taught and coached.
Jones' body was found in Lake Oconee Sunday afternoon, where he disappeared more than a month ago.
Channel 2′s Candace McCowan was at Westminster Schools, where Jones taught and coached, after speaking to the families he impacted.
At the school on Monday, they held a prayer in Jones' honor, but the parents said they couldn't let the opportunity pass without letting the world know what his impact on the students was.
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'I remember last year, my 10th graders were all in a flurry sometime in the late winter, early spring, about baking cookies. They wanted to bake cookies and take them to Gary Jones' class for his birthday,' parent Christine Quillian told McCowan.
Quillian had three daughters in Jones' physics class at Westminster.
He taught and coached at the private school for more than 20 years. For the students in his classroom, he was special.
Quillian's daughter sent her a text about Jones last night reading 'First semester physics exam, he wrote on the front page of the exam 'The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord makes his face shine upon you and to be at peace.''
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'My daughter said, 'you know, that just gave me so much comfort,'' Quillian said.
Jones and his fiancée Joycelyn Wilson disappeared on Lake Oconee on Feb. 8.
For search crews, investigators and Jones' family, the past month has been grueling, but it's also been hard for the young students whose minds he'd shaped over the years.
His disappearance taught them a final lesson, on grief.
'It's a process, there's some laughs and some tears,' Quillian said.
Another student shared a Net Force award he received, signed by Jones, for sustained outstanding effort. It's an award they want search crews to know they deserve.
'There's been so much strength and effort to find him,' Quillian said. 'Not wanting to leave him behind and not wanting to leave him alone.''
Those students have even visited Lake Oconee multiple times to show their appreciation for the search.
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