Jonas was born on the 15th of October 1887, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and after graduating from Jeffersonville High School, he was appointed to the US Naval Academy. While there, he participated in rowing, track, and football, later being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and scored the only point during the 1906 Army-Navy game. After graduating with the class of 1907, Jonas completed his required two years of sea duty, received his commission, and served on several vessels to include the USS Arkansas as a turret officer. By the time he deployed to Mexico, he was a Lieutenant Junior Grade, and it was his actions on the Arkansas that would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

For distinguished conduct in battle, engagement of Vera Cruz, 22 April 1914. During the second day's fighting the service performed by him was eminent and conspicuous. He was conspicuous for skillful and efficient handling of the artillery and machine guns of the Arkansas battalion, for which he was specially commended in reports.

Jonas received the Medal of Honor on the 4th of December 1915, and he then returned to the Naval Academy to coach football for two seasons. During the first World War he served on the staff of the commander of Division Nine, Battle Force, Atlantic Fleet and by 1924, he was promoted to Commander and commanded the USS Stoddert for two years. Jonas then went back to the Academy, again, this time to serve as both the athletic and football director, a position he held for four years.

After his time at the Naval Academy, Jonas commanded the USS Pennsylvania, served as an aide to the Secretary of the Navy, commanded Destroyer Squadron Six, served as the Captain of the Yard at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and commanded the USS Tennessee. When the United States entered World War 2, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and served as the commander of the South Atlantic Force of the Atlantic Fleet. Jonas helped equip and train the Brazilian Navy to combat German U-Boats and to provide support for the later Pacific deployment. On the 15th of November 1944, he became the Commander-in-Chief of the US Atlantic Fleet at the rank of Admiral, working to maintain a constant movement of troops and supplies to Europe.

After the war, Jonas was detached from duty and then retired on the 1st of April 1947, after 44 years of service and with one Navy Cross, three Distinguished Service Medals, and one Purple Heart, which he received for wounds he received during a skirmish with a German submarine wolf-pack in 1942. He went on to serve as the commissioner of the All-America Football Conference until 1949, then taking up the position of vice president for the Reynolds Metals Company. Jonas was married to Jean Coffin, with whom he had one son, and he served as the superintendent of summer schools at Culver Academies in Indiana. It was there that he suffered a heart attack in August of 1952 and one month later, on the 10th of September 1952, Jonas Howard Ingram died from a second heart attack at the age of 64. He and his wife are buried in Arlington National Cemetery: Section 30, Grave 643-RH.