Janis Marie Jones' Obituary
In an ocean of grief, I pray for the strength to be like my incredible mother who left us on October
30, 2022. It is a void that will never be filled.
Janis Marie McIntyre Jones was the strongest woman I’ll ever know. She faced much adversity
throughout her life but she never lost her heart, compassion and humor. As an example, in the last
years of her life she fought a terrible battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Recently, the hospice nurse
had been coming to see her frequently. She inquired whether or not my mother was experiencing
shortness of breath. “Yes,” my mother replied. Then the nurse asked when she experienced the
problem. My mother deadpanned, “Only when I run.” She had been in a wheelchair for years.
Classic Mama.
She was born in Marianna, Florida to Elon Virginia and Paul McIntyre. They were a loving and
close-knit family that always enjoyed one another’s company. She grew up in Dothan, Alabama
where she was an excellent student with many friends and developed a great love for blending her
clear beautiful soprano voice in the choir. She met the love of her life (and later my father), James
Daniel Jones, Jr., while attending Auburn University. Of course, they met in the choir. They were
married for sixty-one years until his death in 2020. I believe they sang together on every road trip
they ever took.
Her marriage began with a trying incident. My father had gotten a new job in Dallas, Texas and had
flown ahead to secure housing for them with my mother to follow at a later date. She flew into DFW
airport on the day President Kennedy was shot. She wondered what kind of city she had come to
but the two of them decided to stay. Dallas, Texas, it turned out, was a far better place than its worst
moment in history. The city had fabulous energy and a real love for the arts. They were happy there.
I was raised in Dallas and they gave me an idyllic childhood. There was no better mother on Earth
than mine. She was patient, kind, loving, funny, supportive and encouraging. I was so very fortunate.
Janis was a woman of many talents. She quilted and sewed beautifully and together with her mother
made endless beautiful clothes and even costumes for a small trick or treater. She cooked
wonderful food, was always trying a new recipe, and she made the best chocolate sauce for
ice cream anyone ever tasted. Janis was also a voracious reader and exasperated her husband
and daughters no end by reading the end of a book first. She spent her career as a computer
analyst for WIC and Nutrition in the State of Florida and later in life earned her Bachelor’s Degree
in Social Work from Florida State University. If there was one trait that exemplified my mother’s
spirit, it was her desire to help others. Even at the end of her life when she was by necessity in a
facility, she still wanted to try and help everyone around her. She was extraordinary and her
compassion boundless.
She will be forever missed by her daughter, Sharon Jones, the daughter of her heart, Christy Naylor
(Jeff), her grandchildren Peyton and Lily, and her best friend and cousin Martha Prescott. I will love
and miss you forever, Mama. Wait for me just a little way down the road.
What’s your fondest memory of Janis?
What’s a lesson you learned from Janis?
Share a story where Janis' kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Janis you’ll never forget.
How did Janis make you smile?