Fletcher R. Jones
Encyclopedia
Fletcher Roseberry Jones (January 22, 1931 November 7, 1972) was an American
businessman, computer pioneer and thoroughbred
racehorse
owner.
Born in Bryan, Texas
, he was the third of three children of an impoverished Depression era
family. He graduated from Allen Military Academy in 1949, then studied at university for two years but did not graduate. His interest in mathematics
led to jobs in the fledgling computer departments at aviation
companies. Married in 1951, he was transferred to California by his employer, North American Aviation Corp. After time at the company's offices in Columbus, Ohio
, Jones and his wife and two small children settled in Los Angeles
where he managed a North American Aviation computer center.
In 1959, Fletcher Jones went into business with Roy Nutt
, a widely respected computer programmer who had been working for United Aircraft Corp.
The two founded a software services company named Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
, when Jones, who ran the business and marketing end of things, obtained a contract from Honeywell
that gave their business profitability and respect within the industry. In 1961, the company made a major move into the space industry when they obtained a contract to support NASA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
's Flight Operations Facility. Within four years of its founding, CSC became the largest software company in the United States. Taking their business public
with an IPO
listed on the American Stock Exchange
, Jones and Nutt and became multi-millionaires. By the end of the 1960s, CSC was listed on the New York Stock Exchange
and had operations in Canada
, the United Kingdom
, Germany
, Italy
, and in The Netherlands.
and racing
of Thoroughbred horses. In 1966, he acquired a 3912 acres (15.8 km²) property near Santa Ynez, California
that he named Westerly Stud Farms. In addition to a large home, he built a U-shaped main barn, breeding sheds, and other service buildings, as well as a half-mile training track. In order to spend more time on his farm, Jones built an airstrip and piloted his own aircraft to and from the Santa Monica
airport near where his office was located.
Westerly Stud Farms' best known horse was Typecast
, a filly
who won the 1972 Eclipse Award
as the American Champion Older Female Horse.
Selected stakes race wins for Westerly Stud Farms
Fletcher Jones gave CSC employee Martin J. Wygod
his first two horses as a birthday gift. Wygod and his wife Pam have remained major owners of racing Thoroughbreds ever since http://www.ntra.com/stats_bios.aspx?id=2136.
The Westerly Stud property was sold in an estate dispersal sale in 1973. Since then, its 3912 acres (15.8 km²) has been subdivided into a number of small parcels, including a section that became the D. Wayne Lukas
Westerly training center. The home, with its outbuildings and paddocks, is now part of approximately 200 acre (0.809372 km²) and has changed hands several times. It is currently on the market with an asking price of $13.1 million. http://www.westerlystudfarms.com/
Impressionists. He owned paintings by Edgar Degas
, Claude Monet
, Pierre Bonnard
, Camille Pissarro
. As well, he acquired four Picassos
, notably his 1901 self-portrait titled Yo, Picasso that was sold by Jones's estate and which, in 1989, would be purchased by the Greek
shipping magnate, Stavros Niarchos
for US$47.85 million.
On November 7, 1972, the forty-one year-old Jones died when the plane he was piloting home crashed into a hillside. He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in the Santa Ynez Valley
.
Jones had divorced his wife in the early 1960s and his estate provided a trust fund for his two sons, Jeffery and Scott, but the bulk of his fortune went to his Fletcher Jones Foundation.
After Jones death, the actress Sherry Jackson
unsuccessfully sued his estate for palimony.
Jones' art collection was liquidated by his estate as well as Westerly Stud Farms. Although he was never a philanthropist in life, his Foundation continues to operate and has made considerable donations, primarily to California colleges and universities.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman, computer pioneer and thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
owner.
Born in Bryan, Texas
Bryan, Texas
Bryan is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 76,201. It is the county seat of Brazos County and is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley . It shares its border with the city of College Station, which lies to its south...
, he was the third of three children of an impoverished Depression era
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
family. He graduated from Allen Military Academy in 1949, then studied at university for two years but did not graduate. His interest in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
led to jobs in the fledgling computer departments at aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
companies. Married in 1951, he was transferred to California by his employer, North American Aviation Corp. After time at the company's offices in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Jones and his wife and two small children settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where he managed a North American Aviation computer center.
In 1959, Fletcher Jones went into business with Roy Nutt
Roy Nutt
Roy Nutt was an American businessman and computer pioneer who co-founded Computer Sciences Corporation and was a co-creator of FORTRAN....
, a widely respected computer programmer who had been working for United Aircraft Corp.
United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of the Boeing firms teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of aircraft engine and airframe...
The two founded a software services company named Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
, when Jones, who ran the business and marketing end of things, obtained a contract from Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
that gave their business profitability and respect within the industry. In 1961, the company made a major move into the space industry when they obtained a contract to support NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
's Flight Operations Facility. Within four years of its founding, CSC became the largest software company in the United States. Taking their business public
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
with an IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
listed on the American Stock Exchange
American Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
, Jones and Nutt and became multi-millionaires. By the end of the 1960s, CSC was listed on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
and had operations in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and in The Netherlands.
Westerly Stud Farms
As a hobby business, Fletcher Jones became involved in the breedingHorse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
and racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
of Thoroughbred horses. In 1966, he acquired a 3912 acres (15.8 km²) property near Santa Ynez, California
Santa Ynez, California
Santa Ynez is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities that make up the Santa Ynez Valley, and features the Santa Ynez Airport for general aviation with a paved 2804 x 75 foot runway. The population was 4,418...
that he named Westerly Stud Farms. In addition to a large home, he built a U-shaped main barn, breeding sheds, and other service buildings, as well as a half-mile training track. In order to spend more time on his farm, Jones built an airstrip and piloted his own aircraft to and from the Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
airport near where his office was located.
Westerly Stud Farms' best known horse was Typecast
Typecast (horse)
Typecast was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse noted for her ability to win races at both short and very long distances. Bred by Nuckols Bros. of Midway, Kentucky, she was out of the mare Journalette and sired by Prince John, a son of the very important sire Princequillo...
, a filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
who won the 1972 Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
as the American Champion Older Female Horse.
Selected stakes race wins for Westerly Stud Farms
- Frank E. Kilroe Mile - Fleet Host (1967)
- San Luis Rey HandicapSan Luis Rey HandicapThe San Luis Rey Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Held during the third week of March, the Grade II event is open to horses of either gender, age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on the turf.Prior to 1955,...
- Fleet Host (1967) - San Carlos HandicapSan Carlos HandicapThe San Carlos Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at during the third week of February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California...
- Rising Market (1970) - San Simeon HandicapSan Simeon HandicapThe San Simeon Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The Grade III event is open to four year olds and up willing to race six and a half furlongs on the downhill turf course....
- Long Position (1971) - Las Palmas HandicapLas Palmas HandicapThe Las Palmas Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California during the Oak Tree Racing Association meet each year in the fall. The race is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the turf...
- Typecast (1971) - Del Mar OaksDel Mar OaksThe Del Mar Oaks is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid August at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. Open to three-year-old fillies, it is contested at a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the turf...
- House of Cards (1972) - Santa Monica HandicapSanta Monica HandicapThe Santa Monica Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race run annually in late January/early February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California...
- Typecast (1972) - Hollywood Invitational Turf HandicapCharles Whittingham Memorial HandicapThe Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of June at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California...
- Typecast (1972) - Man o' War StakesMan O' War StakesThe Man o' War Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Now Raced in July, it is a Grade I event offering a purse of $500,000 and is open to horses three-years-old and up. Run at one and three-eighths mile on the grass, the race sometimes attracts top European horses...
- Typecast (1972)
Fletcher Jones gave CSC employee Martin J. Wygod
Martin J. Wygod
Martin J. Wygod is an American businessman and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. A business administration graduate from New York University, he joined a Wall Street stock brokerage firm before becoming a managing partner in a similar firm.In 1964, Wygod became involved with...
his first two horses as a birthday gift. Wygod and his wife Pam have remained major owners of racing Thoroughbreds ever since http://www.ntra.com/stats_bios.aspx?id=2136.
The Westerly Stud property was sold in an estate dispersal sale in 1973. Since then, its 3912 acres (15.8 km²) has been subdivided into a number of small parcels, including a section that became the D. Wayne Lukas
D. Wayne Lukas
Darrell Wayne Lukas is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S...
Westerly training center. The home, with its outbuildings and paddocks, is now part of approximately 200 acre (0.809372 km²) and has changed hands several times. It is currently on the market with an asking price of $13.1 million. http://www.westerlystudfarms.com/
Art collection
Fletcher Jones began purchasing art, particularly works by the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Impressionists. He owned paintings by Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
, Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard was a French painter and printmaker, as well as a founding member of Les Nabis.-Biography:...
, Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas . His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, as he was the only artist to exhibit in both forms...
. As well, he acquired four Picassos
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, notably his 1901 self-portrait titled Yo, Picasso that was sold by Jones's estate and which, in 1989, would be purchased by the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
shipping magnate, Stavros Niarchos
Stavros Niarchos
Stavros Spyros Niarchos was a Greek shipping tycoon, sometimes known as "The Golden Greek." In 1952, Stavros Niarchos built the first supertankers capable of transporting large quantities of oil, and subsequently earned millions of dollars as global demand for his ships increased.- Early life :He...
for US$47.85 million.
On November 7, 1972, the forty-one year-old Jones died when the plane he was piloting home crashed into a hillside. He is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in the Santa Ynez Valley
Santa Ynez Valley
The Santa Ynez Valley is located in Santa Barbara County, California, between the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the San Rafael Mountains to the north. The Santa Ynez River flows through the valley from east to west. The Santa Ynez Valley is separated from the Los Alamos Valley, to the...
.
Jones had divorced his wife in the early 1960s and his estate provided a trust fund for his two sons, Jeffery and Scott, but the bulk of his fortune went to his Fletcher Jones Foundation.
After Jones death, the actress Sherry Jackson
Sherry Jackson
Sherry Jackson is an American actress and former child star. She made her film debut at seven years old in the musical You're My Everything, starring Anne Baxter and Dan Dailey. During the course of appearing in several of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies during the 1950s as Susie Kettle, one of the...
unsuccessfully sued his estate for palimony.
Jones' art collection was liquidated by his estate as well as Westerly Stud Farms. Although he was never a philanthropist in life, his Foundation continues to operate and has made considerable donations, primarily to California colleges and universities.