Dr. Thomas “Butch” Jones, 61, a veterinarian and former owner of Jones Animal Health Clinic in Crystal City, has retired after 30 years in business.
Jones, whose official retirement was Dec. 3, was given a proclamation recognizing his service to the city at the Dec. 15 Crystal City Council meeting. Crystal City Mayor Mike Osher declared Dec. 3 as Dr. Thomas “Butch” Jones Day.
In the city’s proclamation, Jones was praised not only for his work at the Crystal City clinic, but also for his service on the Jefferson County YMCA Executive Board, Eagle Bank Executive Board, St. Pius X Catholic School Board, chairman of the Mid-East Missouri Ducks Unlimited organization and managing veterinarian for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department’s Police K-9 Force.
Jones, a Crystal City native, graduated from Crystal City High School in 1983. He attended Jefferson College and Southeast Missouri State University before serving for four years in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, from 1985-1989.
Jones said he was interested in being a veterinarian, and when he mentioned his interest to a military recruiter, he found he could serve as a veterinary technician for the Army.
Jones said he worked in a veterinary clinic taking care of service members’ personal pets, as well as military service animals, during his time in the military. He said he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood and Germany.
“I wanted to go in and do the service, but I didn't want to get away from what I wanted to do. So that was my way of keeping in touch with it and keeping it in my brain. And then when I got out of the military, the desire to go forward was even more.”
After his military service, Jones attended the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Columbia and received his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1995.
He opened Jones Animal Health Clinic in Crystal City in September 1996 and then moved to a different location in Crystal City several years later before opening the current clinic location at 1237 N. Truman Blvd., in Crystal City in 2003.
Jones married his wife, Sharon, in 1994. Together, they have two children, Jensen, 29, and Trace, 23.
Building a business
Jones said raising a family while building his veterinary business was sometimes difficult, adding that he regularly worked 70-100 hours per week for the first 10 years because he provided emergency veterinary services on top of his normal business hours.
“I would miss parts of birthdays. I would be at a concert at school, the pager would go off, and then I would have to leave. We would be going up to St. Louis to go out to eat, the pager would go off, and we'd turn around and come back home,” he said. “My wife helped me out with a lot of the emergency work, which helped. We were still spending time together, but it wasn't the time we had planned. I missed a lot of holiday dinners. Over the years, I’ve said I was sorry, and I apologized whenever stuff happened, but at the same time, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it.”
Jones said there was one instance where he absolutely had to put his family first.
“One person got very, very irate with me whenever my son was born. She paged me and got mad because I wouldn't leave the hospital and come look at her dog while my son was being born. I didn't leave,” he said. “That was one time I drew the line.”
Jones said he finally was able to slow down after the first decade when he stopped offering emergency care.
“It was 5 percent of my gross revenue and was 80 percent of my headaches. At that time, I hired another veterinarian and that made my workload go down, and I really enjoyed that,” he said.
Moving to the next phase
Jones said he sold Jones Animal Health Clinic four years ago to make sure his family was taken care of.
“My grandfather passed away at 51 of a heart attack, and my father passed away at 54 of a heart attack, and about four months before my 57th birthday, I basically got cold feet and started thinking about it too much. I was scared I was going to leave my family destitute and not have anything,” he said. “I knew that I didn't want to do this forever, so it brought the sale of the clinic to the forefront.”
Jones said he continued to work at the clinic full time for the first two years after the sale and then part time for the past two years. He said transitioning to part-time work made him realize he was ready to retire and move on to the next phase of his life.
“It gave me the opportunity to wean myself out of it, and I found that I was OK with not being there,” he said.
Jones said he looks forward to traveling and spending more time with his wife and children. He said he is also looking to cultivate his hobbies, such as his interest in cars.
He said he may sometimes help his wife with her business, Pawjama Party Kennels in Pevely, a kennel that provides obedience training and day care services for dogs.
Jones said his favorite part of being a vet was getting to perform surgery.
“I like the blood and guts of it,” he said.
Jones said he also liked taking what could be one of the worst days of a pet owner’s life and making the situation better.
“Seeing people come in distraught, I could help their animal and watch them leave happy,” he said.
Jones said one of the funniest animal situations he saw was helping a gerbil who had put a small magnet into his cheek pouch thinking it was food.
“The gerbil had disappeared, and the owner actually found him stuck to the tower of her computer. She brought him in; we got the magnet out and gave him some fluids and he did fine. We were laughing the whole time.”
Jones said over his career he has worked with many kinds of animals, including a zebra, chimpanzees, Capuchin monkeys, a Malaysian sun bear, a Bengal tiger, lions, camels llamas, and, of course, typical house pets.
Jones says there is one animal he will not treat.
“I don’t do snakes,” he said.
Jones said he’s grateful to have been able to take care of the community’s pets for more than 30 years.
He also said he was happy to receive recognition from the city.
“It’s a very nice honor. Crystal City is dear to my heart, and it always has been.”