"You touched a lot of lives while you were here. I miss you, but I know that you are no longer in pain and at peace."
In loving memory of
Carmen Wilson Jones
April 12, 1920 - April 21, 2009
Carmen Wilson Jones
April 12, 1920 -- April 21, 2009
Hats- Carmen loved buying and wearing hats. If you are able to attend the visitation, the service, the lunch, and/or cemetery service please wear a hat. It cam be Mother's Day or Kentucky Derby fancy; it can be cowboy hat; it can be chore cap, stocking cap. Join us in saying good-bye to Carmen by wearing a hat.
Carmen Jones passed away quietly and peacefully at her home in Windom, MN on Tuesday, April 21, 2009. Carmen was preceded in death by her parents Jacob and Geneva Wilson, her brothers Gerald, Douglas, Stan, and Gordon, her husband Kenneth Alvin Red Jones, and her daughter Catha Jones.
Carmen is survived by her sisters Julane Coyer, Round Lake, MN and Escondido, CA, Lola Geisendorfer, Worthington, MN, and Barbara Burnside, North Sioux City, South Dakota, one sister-in-law, Lenore Wilson of Round Lake and her brother Revered Woodrow Wilson, Lincoln, NE. She is also survived by her son Kent Wilson Jones, Lake Crystal, MN, her daughter and son-in-law Janeva and Donavon Stromberg, Mora, MN, her granddaughters Meredith Stromberg, Bloomington and Kate Stromberg, Minneapolis. Carmen has numerous nephews and nieces.
Carmen was born on April 12, 1920 in Granada, Minnesota. Carmen graduated from high school in Round Lake, MN. She graduated from Waldorf College, Forest City, IA, as did her mother and daughter, Janeva. She earned her Bachelor's Degree from Mankato State, Mankato, MN. Carmen started her teaching career in Lakoda, IA and Judson, MN, taught in Mountain Lake, MN for three years, and finished her career as a second and fourth grade teacher in Windom.
She met her husband of sixty-four years while student teaching in Judson. Ken and Carmen lived on a farm near Cambria (between New Ulm and Mankato) for the first 13 years of their marriage. They moved to Windom-Storden area farm in 1957 and to Windom in 1967.
Carmen was active in the Alpha Delta Kappa (ADK) sorority. She was an active member of the Sons of Norway and very involved with Windom's First Presbyterian Church. Ken and Carmen, for a number of years after retiring, lived in Glendale, AZ in the winter and were active in Glendale's Community Church of Joy. They were volunteers at the Lutheran Camp on Lake Okoboji. They created and delivered a 45 minute song and story routine that they delivered dozens of times. Ken and Carmen saw virtually every Okoboji Summer Theater Saturday matinee from mid 1960-s through 2008.
Memorials should be directed to the charity of your choice or to First Presbyterian Church, Windom, MN.
There will be a service for Carmen Jones on Monday, April 27, 2009 at First Presbyterian Church, Windom. Visitation will be from 10-11AM. The service will be from 11-11:30 followed by lunch at the church from 11:45-1PM. A cemetery service for family and friends, especially Lake Crystal, Cambria, Mankato, and New Ulm friends will be held at Preri Bach Cemetery (1 mile south, ½ mile East) of Cambria at 2:45. There will be open house at Kent Wilson Jones' home from 3:30-6:30 at 51209 State Highway 68, Lake Crystal - six miles east of the cemetery on Highway 68.
Blessed be the memory of Carmen Wilson Jones.
Tributes
"We were neighbors to Carmen & Ken for many years. Our girls actually helped Ken plant the many fruit trees in the backyard of their home on Highland Rd. We still pick the apples and enjoy the fruits of our friendship with Carmen and Ken. It just didn't seem right to see Carmen without Ken so I am glad they are finally together in heaven. Sheri Biever "
"To Carmen ~ a very special friend: May you now rest in peace!"
" In memory of Mrs. Jones, may she be at peace."
" Mrs. Jones was my fourth grade teacher at Winfair, and always remembered me and spoke and asked if I could still read because she taught me how. She was a very pleasant lady and will be missed. In loving memory of your mom. "
"I will miss seeing Carmen & Ken sitting in the back row at Church, talking with them & listening to the stories they had to share! What a testament to "true love" they were!! Carmen was my 2nd grade teacher at Winfair, so whenever I would see her, she'd always ask me if "I still knew how to read", it always gave us a good laugh! She was an awesome lady, her & Ken were an awesome couple & they will be missed!"
"Our sympathies to your family as you remember your mother. I got to know her when we were in Tourist Club together and our "in common" connection as graduates of Waldorf College. God bless her memory."
"Was so sad to hear about Carmen. I had the privilege of working with Carmen at the school from 1973-1976. I looked up to her and was so impressed with her teaching. She will be missed. Heaven is certainly rejoicing to have another angel home."
"We will miss Carmen and Ken. We bought their house and have all the apple trees that they planted. I always enjoyed bringing apples and rubarb down the them. Carmen was always so nice to us. "
"To The Family of Carmen Jones.... My name is Tiffany Carlson. I was a second grade student of hers at the "Highland School up on the hill" Out of all the teacher's I had from K-12. "Mrs. Jones" was my favorite. There are so many reasons why I will never forget her. Here are just a few of them. On rainy "Friday" afternoons we had popcorn. We got to correct each other's homework or spelling tests so we didn't have to wait until the next day to see how many we got wrong. Then she would go from student to student and sit with you to make sure that you got the right answer on the wrong one's. I loved that. And at least once or twice a year the class would board a bus for the nursing home and we would give the residents a little program to brighten there spirits up. Once we got back to school and took of our jackets and put them in our locker's. She would have us sit down and talk about what we just did and how it made us feel good that we did something for the older people in our lives. (the resident's at the nursing home: we considered them part of our family) Those are just a few of many memory's that I will cherish forever. P.S. She wore a "hat" everyday to school too. My Deepest Symphathy To All Of Her Family, Tiffany Carlson (former second grade student) "
"Carmen was a special friend to us for the past 37 years. We were able to enjoy many fun times with both of your parents. They are missed, but are together in their heavenly home fellowshiping with family and friends who have gone before them. With our love and prayers."