Iris Louise Jones, of Snohomish, Washington, passed away unexpectedly November 7, 2020. She was born in Seattle, Washington May 22, 1946 Iris Louise Parkinson to parents Lillie and Frank Parkinson, the youngest of seven children. She joins in Heaven many loving family members including her parents; uncle Henry; stepmother Lois; brothers Buster and John; and sisters Billie and Lillian. She leaves on Earth even more loving family and friends including her husband Dave; sister Ruby; brother Bob; countless nieces, nephews and their families; children Jason (Macie) Jones, Kristina (Thomas) Klein, Erika (Mark) Rogalski, and Peter (Shanna) Jones; five grandchildren, Gabriel, Jacob, Justin, Maryah, Michaela, and their families; great-grandchild Lucas; grand-cats Taylor and April; cat, Minnie.
Iris met Dave when they worked at the phone company PNB and shared a desk on different shifts. Their coworkers never knew they were dating, until they married November 8, 1969. Their children Jason, Kristina, Erika and Peter and their families were her favorite people and proudest achievement. She loved being a mom and grandmother. She often reminisced about how remarkably happy her children were and believed she must have done something right.
Her nieces remember her for teaching them how to cook and care for babies. Her children and their families remember her for her kindness, welcoming, support, generosity, love and hugs. To Kristina she was the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, the Great Valentine, the Easter Bunny, the Great Pumpkin, making every birthday and holiday special. To Mark she was the soul that warms the home. To Erika she was the funniest person she ever met in real life, and the easiest person to shop for, because she was delighted by so many things – anything tiny, angels, blue glass, anything shiny, a small frog living in her flowers on the porch, beautiful fall leaves – what she called “tender mercies.”
Iris met Minnie when she cat-sat for Mark and Erika, and it was love at first lap. Iris was a saint, driving to their house every night to give the cats dinner, spend the night, give the cats breakfast, then driving home every morning to help Dave and run the house, often in the dark and snow. Mark and Erika moved in with Dave and Iris in 2018, and Minnie became her cat. Minnie prefers to be an only-cat, so Iris put Mark and Erika to work insulating the detached garage to make Minnie comfortable. Iris went back to the garage after a 20 year break to start building cat stairs and ramps for Minnie so she could get up and down from the shelves to eat, get in bed and watch things go by out the windows. Minnie got Iris back into her hobbies - woodwork, sewing (cat toys and blankets, what else right?) gardening (building 6 potting benches this summer), and more. Through Minnie, Iris found renewed reason to get back to those things she loved the most, and boy did that cat benefit from the results!
On her last day on Earth, Iris decided to take a break from the election, sewed, hung out with Minnie, cracked jokes and had big laughs with Erika and Mark.
The family will have a celebration of life (Iris always said she wanted a party, not a funeral) at a later date, due to Covid19. In lieu of flowers or casseroles, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, one of the non-profits Iris was happy to support, or a charity of your choosing.
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