Katie Elizabeth Jones

These are the abiding words of Katie Elizabeth Jones. Katie Jones, 88, passed away peacefully at her home in Fairview Heights, IL on September 21, 2023.

Katie was born January 30, 1935, in Emerson, AR, where her paternal grandmother had a farm. She spent her formative years on this farm and had extremely fond memories of working alongside her Grandmother Katie. She was the second child and first daughter of Robert and Ollie Mae Campbell. She came to Christ as a young girl and her faith sustained her through the many trials and tribulations of her long life. She and her 6 siblings later moved to Memphis, TN where she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School. One of her greatest claims to fame and fondest memories was spending one summer attempting to read the entire public library, alongside her brother Fred and sister Lucinda, with the blessing and encouragement of their mother.

After high school, Katie moved north to Chicago where she lived with her beloved Aunt Lucinda and Uncle Judge. She met and married Ronald Kenneth Jones on February 12, 1962, and they raised four children together. She passed her love of reading on to her children, going directly to the publisher to purchase the basal reader to teach them all to read prior to entering kindergarten. Katie lived a long life full of adventure and creativity. She and Ronald briefly owned and operated a restaurant before she went to work at the North Suburban Post Office. Prior to the restaurant, she was a secretary at Hart, Schaffner & Marx in Chicago. It was at North Suburban that she met her circle of lifelong friends. With the common interests of sewing, cooking, decorating, and flower arranging, she spent more than three decades in their company. Katie’s children recall her frequent stops along the side of any road, collecting cattails - with her trusty sickle- for floral arrangements. She also spent her spare time as a caterer and an extremely talented seamstress. She helped prepare food for friends’ events but also sewed wedding, bridesmaids, and prom dresses for her daughters and the daughters of friends. She also had an amazing talent for home decoration, upholstery, and gardening. She was enterprising and had plans to open her own full-service banquet hall. This dream took a backseat to her most enduring role as caregiver to her beloved aunts, Eula and Lucinda, her mother, and finally her mother-in-law. She and Ronald threw legendary parties to fulfill this dream.

Katie is survived by her four children, Rhonda (Stacy- Tura & Victoria) Dover, Kenneth (Cassie-Alicia & Stephanie) Jones , Stacey (John- Dylan, Johnny, & Katy) Both, and Melanie (Dijon- Drew) Brittain, three stepchildren, Sharon Worrill, Marcus Jones, Karen (James) Thomas, three brothers, Samuel Campbell, Carl (Adela) Campbell, Bobby Gray (honorary, 2nd cousin), a brother-in-law, Michael (Hilda) Jones, and three sisters-in-law, Charlotte Wilson, Brenda Jones, and Phyllis (Claude) Jones. She was Aunt Kay to a multitude of nieces, nephews, cousins. She is proceeded in death by her parents Ollie Mae and Robert Campbell, her brothers Robert and Fred Campbell, her sisters Lucinda and Eula Belle Campbell, and her grandson Egerton Montgomery Dover II.

For several decades, Katie ended every visit and phone call with the following message, “I love you, unconditionally, forever and always “. This was her mantra, her mission, and her practice.