Alma A. Jones, 85
Alma A. Jones, age 85 of Nashua, died Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, at 11th St. Chautauqua Guest Home in Charles City.
Friends greeted the family from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, at Hugeback- Johnson Funeral Home/Olson Chapel in Nashua.
A graveside service was held at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, at Sunnyside Memory Garden in Charles City.
Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory/Olson Chapel in Nashua has been entrusted with arrangements. Online condolences for the Jones family may be left at hugebackfuneralhome.com.
Alma was born on Nov. 20, 1937, to George and Elizabeth (Burns) Cady in Rome, New York, and she grew up near the small farming community of Holland Patent, where she graduated from high school.
She then earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Oswego State Teachers College in New York, and one day, she and two friends attended a “job fair” and learned that there was a desperate need for teachers in what was then a U.S. territory. They jumped at the chance for an adventure, and Alma taught first- and second-grade at a school in Anchorage.
The move to Alaska proved to be life-changing for Alma, for it was there that she met an Air Force man named Jerry Jones, who had a buddy who was from Oswego and wanted to meet the three girls who went to school there.
Alma and Jerry began dating, fell in love, and were married on June 11, 1960, at the Congregational Church in Nashua.
The couple welcomed three children — Brian, Mark, and Cheryl — to the family, and while Jerry taught at Charles City, Alma worked as a substitute teacher from time to time in Nashua and New Hampton, but her No. 1 priority was her family.
The family first lived in Nashua but then moved to a farm north of town where Alma had a huge garden and loved canning, baking, and cooking. Her garden was amazing, and the family will always remember the years when she grew the best and biggest pumpkins and carrots. She always put Jerry, her children, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren first.
Alma had a number of hobbies. In addition to gardening, she enjoyed nature and hummingbirds, and the Jones always had bird feeders in their yards. Alma and Jerry enjoyed sitting on the porch, enjoying each other’s company, and watching the birds come to their yard. Alma also enjoyed crossword puzzles, word searches, collecting her Mickey Mouse and hummingbird figurines, and listening to classic country music.
She was a longtime member of the Congregational Church in Nashua, where she sang for years in the church choir.
As Jerry put it, they had a “long, but a so good” marriage, one that spanned 62 1/2 years. Alma will be missed not only by her husband but her children, grandchildren, greats, and the legions of people whose lives she touched while she was here with us.
Alma is survived by her husband, Jerry of Nashua; two sons, Brian (Lea) Jones of Osage, and Mark Jones of Virginia; her daughter, Cheryl (Jim) Martinson of Mason City; her grandchildren; Loren Houk, Maggie Jones, Francine Lang, Jason Jones, Ashley Jones, Ryan Martinson and Cory Martinson; 13 great-grandchildren; three brothers, George (Dotty) Cady, Fred (Diane) Cady and Milford Cady, all of New York; and two sisters, Lynda Kratzenberger and Carolyn Lichtenberger, both of New York.
She was preceded in death by her parents, George and Elizabeth, and three brothers, James, Stanley and Gerald.
