Janet L. Jones passed away peacefully at home in Seaford, surrounded by family on the evening of Oct. 25, 2023. She was born in Banner Elk, NC on Nov. 2, 1944.
She is survived by her brother Jack Leach of Pocomoke City, and her son Michael of Salisbury, NC (wife Kara Sheaffer), and daughter Nancy Watts of Ellicott City, Md. (husband Doug). She was preceded in death by her mother Isabel Leach and father James Craig Leach, and sister Ann Glovier, all of Pocomoke City. She was loved by her grandsons Cole, Kyle, Cooper and Kevin Watts of Ellicott City, Md. and Dylan and Tyler Jones of Matthews, NC; nieces Susan Cook, Kimberly Homer, Deborah Ann Leach, Ami Vermillion, and nephews James Glovier, George Glovier, Tom Glovier, and James Leach; and many great nieces and nephews enjoying especially close relationships with Stephanie Krafft, Meridith Novak, Brian Cook, Jason Glovier, Emily Glovier, Craig Glovier and Angela Ayres
Beyond her family she established fiercely loyal and lifelong friendships with Mildred Wells, Nancy Harper, Ken Hesterberg, Meg, and her neighbors Debbie, Leigh. She was a 30+ year member of her Bridge Club and had loyal friends from her Prayer Group and Book Club. She was a 35+ year member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and was the choir director there for a few years as well as played the organ. She was recently the organist at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church of Bridgeville and truly enjoyed that role.
She made friends everywhere she went. Always vivacious and finding humor in everyday life she had the greatest laugh. It was one of those, “all is right with the world” when you heard her laugh along with that great smile that reached her eyes. It was always a full-on laugh. And she was loved her whole life for it. She was an avid golfer for many years and traveled to many courses in the region and out of state on golf trips with friends. After golf, she took up swimming at the Seaford Senior Center and continued to enjoy her friendships. A wonderful conversationalist, she loved to travel and was always open to new experiences. She traveled to the Bahamas, New Orleans, the Grand Canyon and the coasts of Florida and North Carolina as well as Acapulco.
Born in Banner Elk, NC, her family moved to Washington, D.C. when she was around five years old. There, she established a love of the arts and music and learned to play the piano. She learned how to travel on her own as a pre-teen throughout Washington, D.C. Back then there were trolleys to take you wherever you wanted to go around the city. She said, “It was easy, D.C. is on a grid so once I learned the street numbers and alphabet it was a piece of cake to get around.” She always had a love and close connection with animals. Once as a very young girl she took the trolley to the zoo and secretly put something in her overcoat once there. When she went home, she told her mother she was going upstairs to take a bath. Her mother later went upstairs to check on her, opened the door to the bathroom and there she was in the old-style bathtub with baby ducks happily swimming around in the full bathtub as she was taking a bath. They of course took the baby ducks back the next day. Imagine that conversation.
Her family later moved to Pocomoke City in 1956 where she graduated from Pocomoke High in 1962 and met and dated her future husband Alfred L. Jones Jr. (Bud Jones).
Still an animal lover in her 40’s, the family cat brought home a tiny baby squirrel that fell out of its nest. Janet nursed the squirrel with an eyedropper of milk and beat up eggs until he was old enough to eat on his own. The cat had to stay outside. Cat out, squirrel in. She named the squirrel Slick. He was playful and humorous like a puppy or kitten. He thought Janet was his mother. In the wintertime she would put him between her blouse and sweater, and he would rest and fall asleep below her neck. She’d do errands around town and forget he was there. Several times she would be shopping or checking out and Slick would pop his head out from her sweater and look around. People would freak out and sometimes scream. She would say “oh he’s ok, he just wants to see what’s going on.”
In the middle 1970s she and her husband moved to Gainesville, Ga. with their son Michael and enjoyed life by Lake Lanier where she enjoyed water skiing and boating activities. She worked as a talent booker at Lake Lanier Islands where she met and worked with many celebrities of the day. They eventually moved to Seaford in 1982 where she enjoyed a home on the Nanticoke River and called Seaford her home for the rest of her days.
In 1988 Janet and Bud received a letter from an adoption agency. It was the daughter they had out of wedlock and put up for adoption in Oct. of 1964. Back then, not being married and very young they made the hardest decision to put the baby up for adoption. It was the 60’s. This “life event” brought Janet and Buddy closer together and they began dating again and within a few years married and eventually had a son. So the letter, her name was Nancy and she wanted to meet them. They met and immediately became very close and established a parent/daughter love and friendship that has lasted 35+ years. Nancy gave them their first grandchildren and Michael and Nancy have an incredibly close sibling relationship as if they had grown up together. Nancy’s arrival completed the family and she has gained and enjoyed an incredible extended family with loving family connections. Janet was over the moon to connect with her daughter and they enjoyed a close mother daughter relationship right up to their last visit in Sept. 2023.
Always on the move and up for the next adventure, Janet was scheduled to go on a sea cruise to Bermuda at the end of Oct. 2023 and visit her son and grandsons in Salisbury, NC in Dec. 2023. On the evening of Wed., Oct. 25, she passed away peacefully with Nancy and Michael by her bedside. She was met at the gates of Heaven by her sister Ann and parents James Craig and Isabel.
There was a celebration of life at St. Lukes’s Episcopal Church, Seaford, on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Sussex County Animal Association in the name of Janet Jones. Visit www.delawarerescue.com or email: De************@ao*.com. All donations are tax-deductible as they are a 5013c. If you would like to sponsor an animal in need, donations are accepted either through PayPal or sending a check to Whimsical Animal Rescue, PO Box 1697, Seaford, DE 19973.
To leave a condolence visit www.cranstonfuneralhome.com.