Arthur A. Jones, Nautilus inventor and fitness pioneer, dies in Ocala

OCALA - Arthur A. Jones, inventor of the Nautilus exercise equipment and founder of the Jumbolair estate in Anthony, died at about 4:40 a.m. today at his Ocala home.

Jones was 80. His son, William, said he died of natural causes.

Jones was born in Arkansas and grew up in Oklahoma, according to a news release from MedX Corp., a fitness company he founded. He was a pilot, animal importer and filmmaker.

In 1970, he introduced Nautilus equipment, "the first of its kind marketed to utilize the principle of variable resistance to develop muscles and build strength," according to MedX.

In the mid-1980s at Jumbolair, he would fly in 63 baby elephants from Zimbabwe using a Boeing 707, keep a gorilla and house many alligators, crocodiles and rattlesnakes.

The Nautilus invention made Jones a wealthy man. He sold the company in 1986 and founded MedX - which focused on spinal rehabilitation - the next year. He sold MedX in 1996.

Terri Jones-Thayer - now co-owner of Jumbolair Aviation Estates with her husband, Jeremy - credited her own business and personal accomplishments to Jones, whom she married at 18. They remained married until Jones-Thayer was 27.

Although they divorced in the 1980s, Jones-Thayer remained close to her ex-husband, she said.

Flying lessons became life lessons, she said. "He taught me to fly, and every time I'd want to quit and give up, he was always behind me, saying, 'Don't quit, you can do this.' I'm so glad he believed in me, even when I didn't."

Jones was a natural gambler in business, she said. "He took risks. He would throw it all on the table. He always told me if you've got a dream go out there and do it."

Despite the millions he earned from the Nautilus and MedX companies he founded, "Money never meant anything to him," Jones-Thayer said. "He said money was a tool to make dreams come true. I think he accomplished all his dreams. "

“I hope that Arthur Jones' contributions in the fields of fitness, sports medicine, exercise physiology and orthopedic rehabilitation will be recognized and appreciated," said MedX executive Jim Flanagan, who worked with Jones from 1971 to 1996.