Santa Rosa attorney Dave Jones-Landry dies at 42

Dave M. Jones-Landry overcame humble beginnings and a childhood bout with cancer to put himself through college and become a successful Santa Rosa civil lawyer.

Jones-Landry never forgot his roots. Soon after starting his legal practice, he joined the Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa, a group dedicated to helping underprivileged children. He was named president in 2012.

He also served on the board of Kid Street Learning Center and was selected as a member of The Press Democrat’s leadership forum.

“His family didn’t have a whole lot of money when he was growing up,” said his wife of 15 years, Elise Jones-Landry. “He did everything for himself. I think he always wanted to help children like he was.”

Jones-Landry died Tuesday at the UCSF Medical Center of complications from heart valve replacement surgery. He was 42.

His wife said he had two surgeries this year to correct damage caused by radiation to treat childhood lymphoma. He suffered an infection after the first surgery in March and was unable to recover from the second surgery in June.

Friends and fellow lawyers were saddened to hear of his passing.

Santa Rosa attorney Brian Noble, who also was a member of the 20-30 Club, said Jones-Landry went beyond fundraising for causes and was a hands-on leader, directly helping children.

“He was a really generous kind of caring individual,” Noble said.

He grew up in Forestville and graduated from El Molino High School in 1991, according to his wife. He was into rock music and played bass in a band, she said.

He put himself through Sonoma State University, graduating in 2001, and went off to Lewis and Clark School of Law, finishing in 2004.

In 2000, he married his wife, adding her last name - Landry - to his out of a sense of fairness, his wife said.

“He always wanted us to be equal,” his wife said. “Everybody wondered about it.”

Jones-Landry signed on with Bradford & Barthel, where he specialized in workplace and workers compensation law. He was a member of the Sonoma County Bar Association and the Richard M. Sangster American Inn of Court.

In his spare time, he was an avid home brewer.

“He was witty,” his wife said. “He had a great sense of humor. He always made people laugh. He was a man of integrity.”

In addition to his wife, Jones-Landry is survived by his daughters Farah, 5, and Daisy, 2. He also is survived by brothers Andy Jones of Windsor and Cris Jones of Redwood Valley.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at Odd Fellows Hall on Pacific Avenue in Santa Rosa.

The family is accepting donations at www.gofundme.com/davejoneslandry to help cover memorial costs.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.