Mary Ellen Jones
December 8, 1934 - November 21, 2022

Mary Ellen Jones passed away on November 21, 2022, just a few weeks short of what would have been her 88th birthday. She was born on December 8th 1934 in Casper Wyoming to Wayne and Janetta Garrett. Her father, Wayne Garrett, had a job sheepherding at the time and for the first year of her life she lived with her mother and father in a sheepherder wagon. Mary would move numerous times as her father's wanderlust took them many places in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Mary liked to point out that she went to 13 different schools while growing up. Mary is survived by 3 children, Kerry Jones, James Jones, and Debra Wilkinson. Mary was predeceased by one son Mark Jones. In 1988 Mary was widowed when her husband Jack Leo Jones died. Mary will be buried next to her husband Jack, who retired from the Air Force, at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona.

After her husband's death Mary hosted a foreign exchange student from Norway. The student Frode Skallerud became like a son and remained a friend of Mary's for the rest of her life. Mary visited Frode in Norway and Frode returned to the states several times to see Mary. In 1991 Mary retired from banking and joined the Peace Corp where she served in Lesotho, Africa. Mary acquired the wanderlust of her father and after her stint in the Peace Corp and she began traveling the world. She spent her time looking for the right travel deals and ended up visiting 142 countries.

Mary went to Cosmetology school in Spokane, Washington in 1952 and was a beautician until 1965 when she became allergic to some of the products. Mary went to teller school in Phoenix, Arizona in 1967. She started working for Valley National Bank and rose to branch operations manager several years before her retirement. She lived her final five years at The Beatitudes in Phoenix.

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