Helen Darrela Jones

“When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.” And that is exactly what happened on July 22, 2017 to Helen Darrela (Mulkey) Jones when she passed through the veil and into the presence of her Savior and Lord.

Born October 9, 1920 to Howard Darrel and Margaret Helen (Sawyer) Mulkey in Portland, OR, Mom spent her early years in the farming community of Eugene and along the Oregon coast. She always had a passion to be on, in, or near the ocean. She enjoyed many loving memories of Twin Rocks, Seaside, and Grayland.

During the depression years her family moved many times so Grandpa could work his exceptional mechanical skills to help build White Pass highway and other such projects. Mom helped Grandma garden and can fruits and vegetables, a skill she enjoyed until she was eighty. Her peaches, apricots, pickled beets, and sour cherry jam were favorites. Mom loved cooking and feeding family and friends, especially big family brunches on the patio with her famous blueberry muffins. Mom loved reading and collecting recipes her whole life and even after she stopped cooking she collected and loved to read and share them.

After Pearl Harbor, Dad’s ship, the USS Tennessee, was sent to Bremerton Naval Shipyard; and that’s how Mom met her Prince Charming in the form of a long, tall, Texas boy, Marine Corps Sergeant Linwood B. Jones. They married within two months of meeting and shared 57 years of love and life.

Mom and Dad moved to Yakima in 1957 from Port Orchard with their three children, Ron, Leslie, and Robin. They attended the Yakima Covenant Church and made many lifelong friends there and through Women’s Aglow and Charismatic prayer groups, such as the Healing Rooms. All her life Mom was a giving, nurturing woman. She was a great listener, encourager, and prayer warrior. She always expected and valued the very best in you.

Mom worked at Equitable Savings and Loan to help her kids through college and as a teacher’s aide at Castlevale Elementary. She volunteered with SHEBA, the Health Department Foot Clinic and taught illiterate adults to read. Her most important job, however, was babysitting her three grandchildren, Morgan, Adam, and Megan. She and Dad delighted in every aspect of being a grandparent… baby stuff, first steps, ball games, dance lessons, and more. They were always there with their love.

Dad passed in 2009 and left Mom to deal with the ancient years alone. We helped her resettle at Crescent Place Retirement Apartments. She didn’t like being without Linwood, but being stoic Mom, she settled in and made caring, loving friends. She was content there for seven years… always expecting the best from those she loved. She finished well and is ready for her new life in Glory. In her generation, she is the last to pass on both sides of the family.

She is survived by her children, Ronald (Terri) Jones, Leslie (Ken) Hopper, Robin (Buzz) Rowe, her grandchildren, Morgan (Angie) Rowe, Adam (Mandy) Rowe, and Megan (Dustin) Jones, plus her great grandchildren McKenna, Colton, Caden, Isabella, Emary, Hadley, Finnegan, and Koa, and many favorite nieces and nephews that she had relationship with and loved.

A special, heartfelt thanks to those at Crescent Place Retirement Apartments, Hospice, and Cottage in the Meadow, all so caring and kind.

Private services for family and friends will be held Sunday, August 6 at 3 pm. Please call Langevin EI Paraiso Funeral Home for details, 509-453-3141.

To share a memory of Helen visit www.lepfuneralhome.com.