Frances Jones

Frances Wilson Jones of Springfield died peacefully at her home at Elfindale Manor Friday evening, December 30, 2005. She was 83. Frances was born on October 7, 1922, in LaHarpe, Kansas, the daughter of Frank and Nellie Wilson. As a child, she learned the practical virtues of discipline, simplicity, and industry that are taught by life on a farm. Graced with the love and affection that united her family even during the most difficult days of the Great Depression, she entered adulthood with the strength of character that was the hallmark of her generation. As a young woman in World War II, she worked at the McDonnell-Douglas aircraft assembly plant in Tulsa, one of many thousands of women who contributed to the war effort. Shortly after the war, she met her future husband, a young returning war veteran named Richard Lavern Jones, whom she married in 1948. Their marriage, which produced two sons and four grandchildren, lasted 55 years, until his death in early 2004. Her husband's jobs as a petroleum engineer led the family from Oklahoma to Illinois, then to Texas, Kansas, and finally back to Texas. Far from being unsettled by these frequent moves, Frances had a natural curiosity that led her to explore, learn, and grow with each new experience that life afforded her. She shared her inquisitiveness with her sons, who, following her example, would go on to earn the advanced degrees that she herself might have pursued had she been born in a different time. She possessed an uncomplicated optimism that proved a sturdy bulwark against adversity. Her faith in the fundamental goodness of life was the foundation upon which she built her family. It gave her the resolve to approach the end of her life with grace and strength. Frances was preceded in death by her husband; her brother, Franklin Scott Wilson; and her parents. She is survived by her brother, Jess Wilson, of Baxter Springs, Kansas; and her sons, Dan Richard Jones of Laredo, Texas, and his family: wife, Jalinna (James), and daughters Allyson Lee Jones and Aislinn Anne Jones; and Thomas Wilson Jones of Springfield, Missouri, and his family: wife Doris (Dreier), and daughters Heather May Jones and Michelle Lee Jones. Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, January 2, 2006 in Herman H. Lohmeyer Funeral Home 500 E. Walnut Springfield, Missouri with Rev. Tom Vansant officiating. Committal services will be at 3:30 p.m. Monday in LaHarpe Cemetery, LaHarpe, Kansas. If desired memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association 2446 E. Madrid Springfield, MO 65804 or the Alzheimer's Association 1500 S. Glenstone Springfield, MO 65804. Online condolences can be made at www.hhlohmeyer.com.