Janet Jones

Jan Jones, 53, of Searcy, Arkansas, left this life to be with her good Father on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, after a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. Jan was born in Bryan, Texas on September 13, 1954 to Marvin and Jean Aly. She has a younger sister, Brenda. Jan graduated high school in 1972 from Sherman, Texas, and then came to Harding College, receiving her Bachelors Degree in Music Education and Piano in 1977. She later completed her Masters Degree there with an emphasis in English. In 1976 Jan married Craig Jones, and has lived in Searcy ever since. For the first five years of their marriage she taught music at McRae Elementary School in Searcy. Other jobs have included throwing a Daily Citizen route for over a dozen years, working a few summers at Camp Tahkodah, and cooking during several sessions at the music camp held there. She also accompanied Harding University Homecoming musical rehearsals both as a student and as an adult, accompanied the Spring Sing hosts, hostess, and ensemble rehearsals, and accompanied various choral and solo concerts and auditions. However, her favorite job was teaching children the love of playing the piano. She taught children Bible classes and kept the nursery many times at the College Church of Christ and was later a member of the Downtown church. She had been a leader in the La Leche League. Jan was a breast cancer survivor for nearly 17 years. She loved her children, and leaves behind her son, Rees, and daughter Elaine, and her daughter-in-law Shanna, and several members of her extended family. We anticipate the resurrection in Jesus, where we will join her in the glory of God. A celebration of her life will be held Sunday, September 30, at 2:30 in the Administration Auditorium on the Harding campus. Family will receive friends beginning at 1:00 p.m. At 5:30, her family will release her cremated ashes off the bluff at Camp Tahkodah. You are invited to both events. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Harding to purchase a grand piano for the University and new pianos for Harding Academy. These donations should be sent to Kary Ross, Box 10775, Searcy, AR 72149 with a notation "Jan Jones Memorial."