Gregg B. Jones

Our sweet, gentle and kind brother and friend Gregg passed from this earth on April 23 in Asbury Park New Jersey. Born in Englewood, New Jersey January 15, 1953, he was pleased to share his birthday with MLK Jr. He grew up in a loving family in Harrington Park, NJ, graduating high school in nearby Old Tappan. Gregg's passion for music was ignited when he took up the guitar at age 14 which continued for many decades, rarely putting his guitar down, practicing with it unplugged everywhere and for many hours, running scales. Initially pursuing a musical career at Berklee College of Music in Boston, he returned to New Jersey where he earned a technical degree at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck. Working at Mergenthaler as a computer technician, the musician’s nighttime lifestyle inevitably beckoned and he followed the musical siren’s call playing in many garage-style bands as a teenager and later as a young adult. It was due to Mergenthaler that Gregg went to St. John, USVI, as he was the one technician who knew how to repair an older printer model. That began a 25-year-plus journey. Gregg fell in love with St. John's year-round summer weather and its laid-back lifestyle. He settled into the professional musician's life becoming a well-known and in-demand guitarist, playing gigs both on St. John and St. Thomas. Another lifelong passion of Gregg's was photography. He loved Photoshopping his creations, composing electronic music on his computer, Facebooking friends, exploring music of various styles and researching science subjects that sparked his curiosity. He also loved a good sandwich, a.k.a. sangwich, especially with a fresh juicy tomato, sometimes attacking its messy goodness over the sink, a signature move. Gregg was a quiet soul who may have been at his best surrounded by musicians especially those from the island and his faithful Facebook followers he was very dedicated to. Under that quiet gentle soul exterior was a wicked surreal sense of humor colored in with Frank Zappa, Monty Python, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Kliban and Mad Magazine. Gregg is predeceased by his parents Roland Kelsey and Marilyn Weiss Jones. He is survived by his sister Bettina and husband Daniel Wota, brother Robin and wife Lisa, four nieces: Olivia, Miranda, Lily and Andrea, as well as his adored friends, musicians Lyell and Doug, lifelong friend Deb and those numerous others whom he befriended on St. John and elsewhere dating back to his grade school days. Rest in peace and music. Your family and many friends love and miss you every day. A memorial will be held at a later date. As was his wish, he has been cremated. There was no funeral mass. Should you wish to honor Gregg's memory, donating to one of the two music charities below is an option. MusiCares.org MusicSavesLives.org

Gregg B. Jones

January 15, 1953 - April 23, 2026