Elizabeth S. Jones

July 22, 1925 – Aug 28, 2015

Libby was one of girl triplets born in Miami, Florida July 22, 1925 to James Henry and Ida Lucile (Hobbs) Smith. She grew up in Miami, FL and later Perry, GA, and moved to Indiana upon marrying her husband, Eugene in 1946. She was a resident of Washington, Indiana from 1951-1986, and an active member of the Free Methodist church for twenty-five years. Wife, mother of four, and lover of gospel music, Libby was a compassionate friend and caretaker of children and the elderly. She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, six sisters, daughter Barbara in 1975, and husband Eugene in 1979. She moved back to Florida sometime after becoming a widow and had lived the last 11 years in Colorado, nine of those spent in Collbran and the last two at Family Health West (now Courtyard Care Center) in Fruita.

A memorial was held at the Free Methodist Church in Washington, IN, and burial was at Oak Grove Cemetery in Washington. A memorial will also be held Sept 25th at 4:00 PM at Molina Baptist Church. As music and social activity were important to Libby in her 2 years at Courtyard Care Center, in lieu of flowers, the family has set up a fund in her honor for donations to the Activities Department there. For those interested, make checks out to Elizabeth S Jones Memorial Fund and mail to Grand Valley Bank P.O. Box 130 Collbran, CO 81624.

She is survived by children: Jim Jones of Washington IN, Dick Jones (Barb) of Westcliffe, CO, Janet Bristol (Dave) of Collbran, CO, Grandchildren: Mike Jones (Jamia) of Princeton, IN, Jeremy Jones of Washington, IN, and Dustin Jones of Winslow, IN; Jason Jones (Kim) of Topeka, KS, Jarod Jones (Laura) of Milner, GA, Jasmine Reno (Ryan) of Westcliffe, CO, and LeʼBrea Jackson (DeAundre) of Colorado Springs, CO; Derek Bristol (Jenny) of Newton, KS, Paige Marvin of Collbran, CO, Mandy Bristol Swanson (John) of Delta, CO, and Brian Bristol of Collbran, CO; 23 Great-Grandchildren and 9 Great-Great Grandchildren.

Elizabeth S Jones Biography

Elizabeth Smith Jones was one of triplets born in Miami, Florida July 22, 1925 to James Henry & Ida Lucile (Hobbs) Smith. Her mother had no idea she was expecting a multiple birth and wanted to know why the doctor was still there after her baby was born. She was told that he was ‘waiting for the next one’. Elizabeth was the second born, with her identical twin, Lucile, being first and the third, also a girl, not surviving but 6 hours. They all weighed between 2 and 2 ¾ lbs. Her father, known as J H or Henry, was a shoe repairman and often specialized in shoes for the handicapped. He had married Ida when she was a young widow with a small child and another on the way. Elizabeth’s half–siblings were Mildred Louise, ‘(Moonie’), Porto and, John B Gibson, Jr. Full siblings were James Wilbur Smith, Lillian Harrison, Gladys Moore, her twin, Lucile Adamson, the other triplet Lucy, and the youngest, Martha Jean Quinn, Marty. All preceded her in death,

When Elizabeth was about 12 years old, her dad moved the family from Miami to a 200-acre farm, which he had purchased above Perry, Georgia, where Elizabeth finished her growing up. The family grew corn, cotton and watermelons, and raised a few hogs, but J H also ran his shoe repair business, called “Ideal Shoe Repair, out of an old bus converted into a shop.

For a while the twins had a road- side stand on the highway in front of the farm. Here they sold some peaches, watermelons, other fruits and soft drinks. Frequently people would be drawn to them being identical twins and talk to them about it, some asking silly questions like, “ Do you ever get mixed up and put your socks on your sister?” Their next job was being “soda jerks”, as they called it, at Houston County Drug Store in Perry. Some of the other things that Elizabeth worked at as a young woman, were being a Nanny, working in a stationary shop, working for Gulf Life Insurance and trimming windows under the supervision of her older sister Lil.

But the most significant of these early jobs, in the whole scheme of life, was probably working at Clara’s Chinese Restaurant. It was while working here that her sisters, who were waiting for her to get off work, met and struck up a conversation with 4 soldiers. The group quickly became friends and began to hang out together at sister, Moonie’s house. One in particular, Eugene Jones, took a special interest in Elizabeth and she in him. They wrote faithfully to one another while he was overseas during WWII serving as a Navigator on a B-17. Elizabeth spent several long months in 1945 waiting and wondering while her letters returned to her stamped ‘Missing In Action’. Eugene was the only one on his plane wounded, spent time in a number of Russian hospitals, as well as some in the US, but eventually recovered from his injuries and the two were married May 31, 1946 in Macon, Georgia.

The Southern girl moved to the Midwest to begin her new life with Eugene. Family had mostly called her Elizabeth, and though for a time she was “Betty” to Gene and early friends, somewhere along the way she had become “Libby”. Over the next 11 years, four children were born to Libby & Gene: James Eugene (Jim) was born May 5, 1947 in Terre Haute, IN, with the second, Richard Alan (Dick) arriving Dec 5, 1950 while Libby and Gene lived in Corydon, IN where Gene took his first teaching job. Janet Susan was born May 14, 1956 and Barbara Ann Oct 24, 1957, both in Washington, Indiana. Barbara passed away June 27, 1975.

Libby accepted Jesus into her life at the Free Methodist Church in Washington, IN and spoke of feeling as though a heavy load had been lifted from off her back. Nevertheless, she struggled over the course of her life with trusting God and resting in him. For her, as for some of the rest of us, there seemed to be a blurry line between concern and worry.

While always primarily a homemaker, Libby found various ways to bring in a little money - babysitting, selling Fuller Brush, making and selling peanut brittle at Christmas, working at a restaurant and as a cashier in the school cafeteria, and after Gene died, at Armor Turkey Plant and McDonalds. Libby liked to sew and had made Raggedy Ann and Holly Hobby dolls, teddy bears, and sock monkeys both to give and sell. She enjoyed yard sales and flea markets, and loved watching “The Antique Road Show”, with the hope that she too might find something that would turn out to be valuable. She exhibited love for her children in various ways, by pinching pennies to make payments on a piano and pay for piano lessons, sewing clothes and doll clothes for the girls, and helping the boys sell Christmas cards to get bicycles, among many others I’m sure. She loved fixing a meal and having friends over to share it, and if someone couldn’t be there, she just might fix a plate and take it to them at work.

After Eugene died in 1979, she and daughter, Janet, lived together in Washington, IN until both took jobs at Horn Creek Lodge in Westcliffe, Colorado about 1984, where Libby served as a cook. She spent a year and a half there, came back to Indiana for a time, then eventually moved to Lake Wales, Florida where her sister, Marty ran an assisted living home for the elderly. She helped Marty off and on in exchange for room & board but eventually had her own apartment. While in Lake Wales, she attended First Baptist Church, enjoyed volunteering at Bok Tower, and made many special friends. She still accumulated odd jobs, such as taking in sewing, cleaning house, taking care of friends after surgeries, teaching a friend’s son how to cook. She loved staying in touch, and while still able, would go through her address book to see who she hadn’t talked to in a while and usually someone got a call.

In 2004 she was persuaded to move to Colorado to be near her daughter, Janet, as she had begun experiencing short-term memory loss. It soon became apparent that she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Libby was able to live semi-independently in a trailer in Collbran, Colorado for six years with increasing interventions. After having a live-in caregiver who enriched her quality of life greatly for 2 years, and then living with Janet a little under a year, she spent the last 2 years at Family Health West Nursing Home (now called Courtyard Care Center) in Fruita, Colorado

Libby had mourned greatly the loss of her youngest daughter, Barbara, and had never been able to truly get over her death. One of the mixed blessings of her struggle with Alzheimer’s was that there came a day when she was no longer able to hold onto the painful memory.

Throughout Libby’s life she was a caregiver and concerned for others, which carried over even into her years with Alzheimer’s disease. Throughout her days at the nursing home, she would often stop to check on another resident, or give a caring touch, clear up until the last week of her life. She contracted pneumonia and passed away peacefully Aug 28, 2015 at Courtyard Care Center in Fruita, CO, where she was loved by all and will be missed by those who knew her there and all her family.