Katy Trail patron dies

Pat Jones, who along with her husband provided the initial donation that led to development of Missouri’s popular Katy Trail State Park hiking and biking path, has died.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources says Jones died Monday. A cause of death was not disclosed. She was 93.

Jones and her late husband, Ted, were nature enthusiasts who donated $2.2 million that allowed the state to acquire the MKT Railroad corridor and develop the Katy Trail. The 240-mile-long path opened in 1990, months before Ted Jones’ death.

They contributed to other park programs, too, so much so that a park near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers north of St. Louis is named after them – the Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park.

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