Marcella Vivian Jones

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 21, at 10:00 am in the chapel at Palm Village, 703 W. Herbert Avenue, Reedley, CA.

A graveside service and burial will be held for the family on December 18, at 12:00 pm at Reedley Cemetery.

Marcy was born June 25, 1932, in Goodrich, ND, the daughter of Emil and Lydia (Felchle) Delk. The family welcomed two more children, Roger and Verna. They moved to California in 1937 and settled in Lodi. Her mother passed away when she was twelve, and her father remarried when she was fourteen. Ruth Fischer was a wonderful mom, and two more daughters were added to the family—Kathie and Linda.

Marcy attended a Christian summer camp after high school graduation, and during a chapel service heard God’s call to become a laborer in His harvest field in West Africa. She attended Bible College in San Francisco where she met Herbert Jones who had also heard God's call. They began talking of marriage, but before concrete plans could be made, Herb was accepted by Sudan Interior Mission (SIM), and he boarded a freighter bound for Nigeria.

Two years later, Marcy completed her Bible training at BIOLA University and set sail for Nigeria. The night her ship docked in Lagos, Herb proposed. Their first assignment was working with an evangelistic magazine in Lagos for several years.

Next came fourteen years of teaching at Titcombe College in Egbe. During that time, they joyfully welcomed five children; four were born in Nigeria and one in California on their first furlough. All five attended mission boarding schools, Kent Academy and Hillcrest, and flew home for summer and Christmas holidays. Sending her beloved children to school each year was a heartbreak for her.

Every few years, the family would return to the US on furlough. Many happy times were spent reuniting with good friends in their supporting churches in Oakland and Lodi. Most precious of all, were reunions with family in Lodi, Kansas, North Dakota, Washington, and West Virginia.

During their last twelve years, Marcy and Herb traveled a weekly circuit taking theological education to village pastors. Throughout their thirty years of ministry with Nigerians and missionaries, they found a family as close as their relatives back home.

When Marcy and Herb returned to California, they served four years managing SIM's retirement center in Carlsbad, CA. For the next eighteen years, they devoted themselves to international students in the San Francisco Bay Area. Several became “adopted” children. Marcy and Herb dearly loved all their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and prayed for them daily.

After retiring, they moved to Palm Village Retirement Center in 2007, where Marcy lived until she passed away. Herb died in November 2015. At Palm Village, the couple met many wonderful people who became their close friends.

Marcy will be greatly missed by her family and friends including two siblings, Kathie Holtzapple and Linda Patron; two sisters-in-law, Bobbie Deister and Pat Willems; her children, Larry (Gracie) Jones, Debbie (Chris) Warren, Mark (Bev) Jones, Grant (MaryLyn) Jones-Wiebe; and Cindy (Kyon) Yi; her grandchildren, Michelle Jones, Chris (Kristin) Porro, Tanya (Philip) Wilson, Andrew (Sarah) Warren, Heather (Aaron) Camacho, Robby Warren, Josh (Porsche) Smith, Elizabeth Jones-Wiebe, Samantha Rhoden, Marshall (Abigail) Yi, and Mason Yi; her great-grandchildren, Mariah and Natalie Armijo, Mikayla (Nick) Cordova and Camille Porro, Jordyn and Hailey Wilson, Paris Allen, Rachael, Olivia, Richard, and Alicia Luce, Kenna Weatherson, Gideon and Alora Smith, Anberlin Yi; many dearly loved nieces and nephews; plus many members of the International Community who became her family.

She was preceded in death by Herbert, her husband of 59 years; her parents; and siblings Roger Delk and Verna (Delk) Woodyard.

Special thanks to Palm Village Retirement Center and Bristol Hospice for the excellent care they gave Marcy.

Memorials can be made to Palm Village Retirement Center (https://www.palmvillage.com) or ROCK Ministries International (contact Cindy at http://www.newhorizonsfoundation.com/project/single-project/2544/)

In her later years, Marcella’s favorite verse was this: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.“  Isaiah 41:10 NIV