Elaine Jones

Elaine Lois McDonald Jones

Elaine Lois McDonald Jones liked to sit in her bright, cheery living room and paint vibrant scenes from nature. Birds, flowers, bridges, the ocean - she painted them all by number, saying that she aspired to someday paint without the numbers. But her artistry extended well beyond those canvases she painted with such care. Elaine's life was her masterpiece, a work so vibrant and expansive that no frame could begin to contain it. For 80 years, she painted the lives of everyone she met with color and light, kindness and generosity, wisdom and beauty.

Elaine was born to Andrew and Lois McDonald in Provo, Utah on March 16, 1933. She met the love of her life, B. Lee Jones, at a high school drama competition. The two were married on January 16, 1953. Together, they created a beautiful and ever-blossoming family tree, and their greatest love was spending time together with their burgeoning and fun-loving clan. They had six children, and their six had 21 children, and those 21 grandchildren had 24 great-grandchildren. The 25th is on the way, and she will be named Elaine.

Life could be an adventure, providing for and keeping track of their six children - Suzanne, twins Donald and Douglas, twins Larry and Lori, and Wendy - but Elaine and Lee were a marvelous and hard-working team, a fact perhaps best-illustrated by the wonderful, caring people their children have become.

To her grandchildren, she was the gold standard. She was the kind of grandmother that would not only give her grandkids a game, puzzle, or book, but sit down on the floor or snuggle up on the couch and enjoy it with them for hours. Growing up with Grandma and Grandpa Jones involved not calendar years, but a patchwork of highly anticipated seasonal traditions crafted with care by Elaine and Lee. There was kite-flying in the spring, backyard barbecue bonanzas in the summer, and the grand Jones Family Campout. There, Elaine would play epic rounds of favorite games like Uno and Phase 10 with her family by lantern light, wake early to make hot chocolate for her grandchildren, allow them unlimited access to great, sticky tubs of homemade caramel popcorn, and help wash their grubby paws with Irish Spring stuffed into a length of nude-colored pantyhose and tied to the spigot. Fall brought the Halloween party, where Elaine would dress up, and make homemade rootbeer, adding dry ice as she stirred to make an eerie fog spill over the sides of the cauldron. Christmas brings a feast, where Elaine and Lee would spoil their family with thoughtful gifts, but always return the focus to the true meaning of Christmas, including a live-action nativity depicting the birth of Jesus.

Elaine was a spiritual giant with a deep and abiding testimony of Jesus Christ. She had a lifelong passion for learning, but also the generosity of spirit, patience, and compassion to share all that she'd learned. She enjoyed teaching in a variety of callings for the LDS church. She was an early-morning seminary teacher in Wyoming, she taught Gospel Doctrine for many years, and she was teaching in Relief Society until shortly before her death. She was also a great leader, serving in the presidencies of Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society.

Elaine was strong-willed, industrious, and committed. She and her husband worked tirelessly to provide for their family. When she retired in 1997, Elaine was working as a membership and records clerk for the LDS church. Over the years she held a wide variety of jobs, including babysitter, telephone operator, Braille telephone switchboard operator, and also held positions at Wheeler Machinery, Salt Lake Hardware, and in a hospital X-Ray department. She also loved volunteering in the community, working as a hospital volunteer and a reading tutor for elementary school first and fifth graders.

She was an amazing listener, sharing her sage advice as well as hugs and kisses. She was fully present at all times, living each moment to its very fullest and making the most out of the time she had with loved ones, even when it was short and far-between.

She was thoughtful, generous, and caring with family, neighbors, and even strangers. She would often share a kind word, her delicious cooking, or a beautifully written note with those who needed encouragement. Even as her family expanded exponentially, birthday cards arrived on the day-of as if by clockwork, all written with care in Elaine's lovely looping cursive.

Along with painting, Elaine loved to cook and bake, pouring love into each pot roast, pan of caramels, or batch of cookies. She loved playing the piano, reading, going to the movies, and playing games. Her husband, Lee, was the most important person in the world to her, and the two made a formidable team during their 60 years of marriage. They loved to golf (for fun, not for par) and to travel together, and most of all, to spend time with family.

In her life, Elaine was the first to help and the last to complain, and she navigated her increasingly poor health with grace and good humor. When our sweet wife, mother, grandma, great-grandma, sister, and aunt passed away on June 23, 2013, in West Jordan, Utah, she was surrounded by her husband and children, who held her hand as she moved to a new and beautiful place free of the pain and physical restriction.

She is survived by her husband, B. Lee; children Suzanne Moss (Michael); Douglas (Toni); Donald (Carol); Larry (Deanne); Lori Warnick (Lee); Wendy Barbosa (Albert); 21 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and her siblings, Bob McDonald; Gerry McDonald (Janie); Dean McDonald (Janet); and Linda Andrus (Alec). She was preceded in death by her parents, Andrew and Lois McDonald, and her brother, Richard McDonald.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 7171 S. 2700 W. in West Jordan. The viewing will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. the night before, Wednesday June 26, in the same location. Interment will take place at Payson City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation (1-801-662-5959 ) in care of the Elaine McDonald Jones Fund. Condolences may be posted with Peel Funeral Home.

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