Obituary of Phyllis JONES

With sadness we announce the passing of Phyllis at her home in the Carewest Colonel Belcher Care Center in Calgary. Phyllis was born in Bethune, SK where she graduated from Normal School and taught in a one-room schoolhouse. She joined the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service and served for two years from Victoria to Newfoundland. After the war Phyllis attended the University of Toronto where she met Arthur. They were married in 1949 and started their family in 1952. The young family moved to Edmonton in 1957 where Arthur joined The Optometrists’ Clinic. Phyllis worked for the City of Edmonton Department of Social Services where she developed a teaching homemaker program, which allowed families in need to receive education and support in their homes. Phyl and Art retired to Pender Island in 1982 where they lived for twenty-five years sailing, gardening and entertaining family and friends. They moved to Calgary in 2003 to be close to family. Phyllis loved to cook and sew, dance and read. She was a great friend to many, a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother. Phyllis was also a firebrand, one of Alberta’s earliest feminists and a member of the Alberta Status of Women Action Committee. She devoted her life to supporting others through her work, her family and her friends. Phyllis leaves behind her oldest son Christopher; her daughter Lanice; and her grandchildren Jeffery, Willis, Eric, Minetta and Jackson. Phyllis was pre-deceased by her loving husband, Arthur Jones; her brother James Rowand; her sisters Elizabeth and June Rowand; and her son Greg Jones. A Celebration of Phyllis’ Life will be held at CALGARY CREMATORIUM CHAPEL, 3219 – 4th Street N.W., (within the valley of Queen’s Park Cemetery) on Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. Please forward condolences through www.hffs.com.