Theresa Ann Jones

Theresa Ann Jones does whatever she has to do to make something happen. Definitely a flight risk.

At age 12 she loses her father. Her very much older twin brothers Richard and Robert say she will never attend college. Too expensive. The nuns at Pius High School decide she will skip freshman year, start as a sophomore, and graduate in three, not four years. She makes National Honor Society and is a Latin Scholar. Takes her life savings, buys a crappy car, drives to New Orleans, makes enough money to come back to Milwaukee, enrolls at UWM but doesn’t enjoy Anthropology. Goes to George Stevens Modeling School, learns typing and shorthand, and is a secretary at a plumbing company. Wants to see what France is like, spends a summer in Door County at an intensive workshop where students can only speak French. Takes a job at the phone company to avoid a pesky suitor seeking marriage. Becomes a sexy cocktail waitress at the top of the Pfister Hotel where a very handsome and talented jazz drummer named Bob sweeps her off her high-heeled, fishnet-stockinged feet. They run away to Chicago. She becomes an Executive Secretary at Ethan Allen and Bob goes to Goodman Theatre School while drumming at all the hotels. They make a baby called Erika.

In 1985 with permission, Mom and Dad take Erika out of middle school to spend seven weeks in eight different countries using Mom’s fluency in French. Erika grows up and works at Hewitt Associates. Mom and Dad start a Bed & Breakfast and fill the barn with sheep, llamas, chickens, rabbits, a fainting goat named Valentino and a pot-bellied pig named Priscilla. Erika tells Mom there is a job fair and she can work at Hewitt too. Mom monitors Bob’s computer classes at College of Lake County and learns how computers work. Erika earns a degree at U of I and a master’s at Canterbury Christ Church University in England. Another Theresa Ann at Hewitt says her name isn’t useable because the job is just a temporary one. Theresa uses her middle name Ann and outlasts all challengers. Ann rents a getaway cottage in England so she can be closer to the London Review Bookshop and her favorite pistachio cake. She continues loving her work and is eventually promoted to Director. Always a flight risk. On 15 March 2022 Theresa Ann Jones flew away. To a better place.

Theresa Ann is survived by her husband Robert (53 years together!), daughter Erika (Joseph Woodward), brother Richard, many nieces and nephews, and countless friends, colleagues and other lucky souls who had the good fortune to cross her path.

She is love, she is joy, and she will always be with us.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in honor of “Theresa Ann Jones” to The Community Church in support of humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Donations may be made directly at https://thecommunitychurch.us/give/ or mailed to Community Church Charities, P.O. Box 26, Lake Bluff, IL 60044.