RAMONA JONES

A Life Well Lived

RAMONA JONES was born January 26, 1932, and passed away peacefully on March 21, 2023. She was called ‘Monie’ by most family members, Grandma to some, Grand Mommy to some, Maw-Maw to many, but to her children she was simply called Mother. Regardless of what she was called, the feeling behind the moniker was one of love.

Ramona believed you could never have too much family. She embraced everyone she met and simply brought them into the fold. She shared her home with countless people. Countless. Perhaps being the baby of 19 children by Matthew and Pearl Brown inspired her desire to surround herself with a healthy number of extra family members.

Ramona was an honor student and class secretary at Crispus Attucks High School. She was the first of her siblings to attend college.

Ramona worked as a Supervisor at Indiana Bell before retiring in 1997. She was a nanny for a couple of families before starting her own daycare which she owned and operated for over 15 years. She loved children and yes, these children became family too.

Ramona really loved to cook and bake. To supplement her income when her children were young, she would sell cakes, pies and any number of taste-filled memories. Legend has it that people would line up for her Monkey Bread.

Even greater than her love of cooking was her love for talking about the Bible. If you had a conversation with her, you knew she would speak about God or share a scriptural thought. She was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses August 12, 1968. She loved going from door-to-door meeting people and sharing the Bible. In later years as her mobility changed, people began coming to her house for her enthusiastic Bible studies.

Ramona was a mentor, a friend, a confidant and a 'second mother' to others. She willingly shared her love and passed along her pearls of wisdom. She was a talented poet, very artistic and an eager and avid learner. In her mid-70s, she took lessons at one of the Spanish-speaking Kingdom Halls. In her 80s she learned to text (never quite grasping the concept of a short messaging system, which tickled those on the receiving end).

Ramona was preceded in death by her husband, Earl N. Jones.

She will be lovingly remembered by her children, Robert Martin III (Maxine), Peggy Caldwell (Dana), Glenda Carter (John), Andrea Smith (Wayne), Charles Ferguson Sr. (Jimmie), Della Poston, Marcia Graggs (Jeff), and James Gillenwater Jr.; grandchildren,  Sherrece, Stachia, Dontaye, Ayana, Aunya, Natannya, Desiree, Danielle, DeAundra, Charlyce, Charles Jr., Charla, Charlynn, Nijah, Nathan, Eric, Kimberly, Darrly, Anjel, Jevne, and Jeffrey II, Jesni; and a host of great grandchildren, great, great grandchildren, family and friends.

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