Fæðingardagur Melvin Jones (13.janúar 1879 – 1.júní 1961)

Melvin Jones (13. janúar 1879 – 1. júní 1961) var ritari og gjaldkeri Lions Clubs International.

Hann fæddist í Fort Thomas, Arizona (á þeim tíma Arizona Territory). Faðir hans var kapteinn í bandaríska hernum. Árið 1886 eða '87 flutti fjölskyldan austur þegar faðir hans var fluttur til í starfi. Melvin Jones settist að í Chicago, þar sem hann stundaði nám við Union Business og Chaddock háskólana í Quincy, Illinois. 33 ára gamall var hann eini eigandi eigin tryggingaumboðs í Chicago og varð meðlimur í viðskiptahringnum á staðnum og var kjörinn ritari stuttu síðar. Melvin Jones var einnig frímúrari.

Eftir tvö ár, hvattur af persónulegum siðareglum sínum – "Þú kemst ekki langt fyrr en þú byrjar að gera eitthvað fyrir einhvern annan" – lagði Jones til að hæfileikar meðlima hringsins gætu nýst betur á öðrum sviðum samfélagsins. Hann bauð fulltrúum frá öðrum karlaklúbbum í og við Chicago á fund til að móta viðeigandi samtök og út frá þeim fundi mótaði Jones klúbb sinn í sem leiddi enn frekar til þess að hann var valinn ritari "International Association of Lions Clubs" sem síðar fékk nafnið "Lions Clubs International". Jones hætti með tryggingaumboð sitt til að vinna í fullu starfi í höfuðstöðvum Lions International.

Árið 1945 var Jones fulltrúi Lions Clubs International sem ráðgjafi á ráðstefnu Sameinuðu þjóðanna um alþjóðasamtök sem haldin var í San Francisco.

Melvin Jones (January 13, 1879 – June 1, 1961) was Secretary-treasurer of Lions Clubs International.

He was born in Fort Thomas, Arizona (at that time the Arizona Territory). His father was a captain in the United States Army. In 1886 or '87, the family moved east when his father was transferred. Melvin Jones settled in Chicago, where he studied at the Union Business and Chaddock colleges of Quincy, Illinois. At age 33 he was the sole owner of his own insurance agency in Chicago and became a member of the local business circle, and was elected secretary shortly thereafter. Melvin Jones was also a Freemason.

After two years, prompted by his personal code – "You can't get very far until you start doing something for somebody else" – Jones proposed that the talents of the circle's members could be better utilized in other areas of community life. He invited representative from other men's clubs in and around Chicago to a meeting to devise a suitable organization and from that meeting, Jones subsequently integrated his club into an existing initiative that further led to his selection as Secretary of the "International Association of Lions Clubs" later to be named "Lions Clubs International". Jones eventually gave up his insurance agency to work full-time at Lions International Headquarters.

In 1945, Jones represented Lions Clubs International as a consultant at the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco.