Cooter's Place

Statement from Cooter’s on Ben Jones passing.

Ben “Cooter” Jones loved people. For many years, the team at Cooter’s watched as he took extra time with fans, getting to know them with ceaseless curiosity, often going on far too long with colorful stories of backstage on “The Dukes of Hazzard”. He had the kind and genuine manner of a grandfather and the jovial familiarity of a fishing buddy. He got to know his employees the same way, and he treated us more as ambassadors of the show than as workers. He impressed on us at Cooter’s that the show was family entertainment, that families had gathered to watch on Friday nights in the 80’s, and that he wanted those who visit our museums and later, our stores, to feel welcomed and at home. Many of us were those fans growing up, and Ben believed that those who walk through our doors became part of our family, Hazzard Nation, as he liked to call it. The world will change around us, but Ben wanted the spirit of community to be ever-present at Cooter’s. We are all deeply saddened by Ben’s passing because we lost a leader, a mentor, a family member, and a friend, but we are grateful to have had him our lives and our mission to keep Hazzard Nation alive isn’t over.