Nola Jean Jones

Nola Jones, 72, a beloved mother, grandmother, wife, and friend, passed away on February 25th, 2026, in the caring hands of St. Paul’s Hospital Palliative Care in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, surrounded by her family.

Nola was born July 3, 1953, and grew up in Regina, in a household of four girls and her parents. As a teen Nola first developed a passion for care and nursing as a candy striper at a local hospital. After graduating high school in 1971 at Martin Collegiate, Nola continued her journey into nursing at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) in Saskatoon where her lifelong passion grew.

Upon her graduation from the U of S College of Nursing in 1975, Nola began her formal nursing career at the Royal University Hospital (RUH) in Saskatoon. Her career continued along a circuitous route that included nursing positions in Whitecourt, Rabbit Lake, and Melfort. In 1989, she and the family settled in Saskatoon where her nursing journey continued at the RUH. There Nola found her speciality–caring for the most vulnerable in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). She remained in the NICU until her retirement in 2012, concluding a more than 35-year career in nursing and seeing many of those babies she once cared for reach adulthood. Throughout her career Nola made several lifelong nursing friends, and she cherished those friendships until the very end.

As if a full-time nursing career was not enough, Nola was always busy with other jobs and ventures. Over her lifetime she has been a hardware store owner, bingo hall proprietor, income tax accountant, blackjack dealer, Santa’s helper, election returning officer… to name just a few of her paid occupations. Nola was also an avid volunteer, lending copious amounts of her time to youth and adult bowling leagues, highland dance associations, charity bingos, major curling events, and of course the Scottish pavilion at Saskatoon Folkfest. It was her recipe and know-how that led to years of toffee sell-outs. Nola was ever busy and always helping in any way she could.

Outside of work and volunteering, Nola kept many hobbies, including crafting (sewing, crocheting, knitting, bead work, cross stitch) and puzzles of all kinds (crosswords, sudoku, math/logic, jigsaw puzzles). In her life she has been a curler, 5-pin bowler, and in the latter half of life a golfer. In her down time, she loved to watch curling, figure skating, and Roughriders football, in addition to watching and supporting her children’s activities (bowling, highland dance) and her grandsons’ sports.

Nola is predeceased by her parents, Victor and Leola Beck. She is survived by her loving husband, Bill, and their two children: Kendra (Ashley) and Nathan (Andrea); by her three grandchildren: William, Rowan, and Poppy; her three sisters: Linda, Donna, and Brenda; and by numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives.

Nola's memory will live on through her family and friends, through the countless babies now grown into adults that she cared for in the NICU, and through every sweater, toque, and blanket crafted with love by Nola’s skilled hands. It was Nola’s wish that no memorial service be held. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, an organization that Nola held close to her heart.