Dorothy Alice Jones

Dorothy Alice Garrett Jones, age 88, known as Aunt Dot, Nana, and a Mom to everyone she knew, went to her Lord and Savior on August 21st, 2017. An original Valley girl, Dorothy was born in Kerrville, Texas June 13, 1929 and spent much of her young life in the Rio Grande Valley with her parents, Wilby Wetzel (W. W.) – “Pop”, and Gladys (Demasters) – “Grinny” - Garrett. They lived mostly in the country, and she worried that suitors would not be able to find her in such remote locations. As luck would have it, her future husband, Carl Houston Jones, knew exactly where she lived, as he had repossessed her big brother’s car two weeks prior to them meeting. They were married on September 1, 1949 in Harlingen, Texas (Dad not knowing at that time, that the date would later conflict with dove hunting every year).

In 1954, Carl was an insurance salesman for the Sid Murry Agency in Corpus Christi and was requested to open a branch in Dallas, Texas. Dad could only convince Dorothy to move there by driving her to the outlook of White Rock Lake on Peavy Road. The view of the lake and the city convinced her that her home was to be Dallas, moving there in 1955, and they grew their family to 3 boys and 2 girls. Living in what is now known as East Dallas, they bought a 3 bedroom home for the princely sum of $17,000, after borrowing $1,000 for a down payment. Their home was on a creek lot and it provided many hours of entertainment for all who lived and visited there. While Dad worked and officed out of the old H.L. Green building downtown across from Nieman’s, Dorothy ran the house. Dorothy in a present day time period would have been a great manager of a business and proved it many times at the jobs that she took to make ends meet (or really just to have something constructive to do). Money was still tight, so she set many rules down to make it work: Dogs had to live in the garage and were only allowed in the house if there was an ice storm, Tuesdays were chili mac night, Wednesdays were pinto beans and cornbread, and Friday nights were steak and Perry Mason. Fighting or arguing was not allowed in front of the children, with the exception being, when Dad brought home a hunting dog named “Skeet”. It was either her or the dog, and the dog lost - fortunately for us all. The early sixties was the age of Camelot for the women of Casa Linda, where the women strove to look like Jackie Kennedy, and Big Hair and Big Men dominated the scene. At the end of the era, Mom and Dad pushed the envelope to keep 5 kids in school and clothed, so they branched out into the BBQ catering business. Their brisket and home-made cheesecakes were literally world famous.

When Dad passed away in 1987, Dorothy fought fiercely for her independence and became the woman we all loved and remember today. Asked why she never remarried, she replied, “I aint taking care of some old man, I got things to do.” So she became the Lochwood Baptist Church secretary (27 years), traveled to Europe on church missions, traveled the country with her good friends, and was a mean canasta player with the “Widows Club” for many years. After her retirement, she moved to Mesquite and joined the Grand View Baptist Church where she continued her love for the church and participated in after school programs for young children in spreading the word of God. She was a vivacious reader and a true Texas Rangers fan and even though she had some dementia from later strokes, she always recognized her family and could still whip the NY Times crossword puzzles, even if she couldn’t remember what she had for lunch 10 minutes earlier. So today, we all mourn another of the greatest generation as they begrudgingly leave us and the influence that they had.

Survivors include children Gary Jones (Denise) of Flower Mound, Brent Jones (Carolyn) of Garland, Karen Harris (Penrod) of Corpus Christi, Lee Jones (Karen) of Tyler, and Jana Marak (Terry) of West; grandchildren Christopher Goodrich, Steven Jones (Nhu), Tracey Savcic (Luis), Aimee Jones, Marissa and Tanner Marak, and great grandchild Adeleine Jones; sister Patsy Mcferron and brother Jerry Garrett, and many nieces and nephews and many more friends.