Joyce June Jones

Joyce June Jones, age 71, arrived at her heavenly home on May 4, 2016. She was a retired Cessna machinist and life long artist. Many of her works, including paintings, stained glass and antique quilted bears are in homes nationwide. She was a loving mother and the biggest joy in her life was being grandma Noni. June is preceded in death by her parents, Nick and Joyce Gomez; husband, Boyd; daughter, Janell Maria Jones. She is survived by her children, Jessica (Mark) Johnson; Seth (Adrianne) Jones; grandchildren, Jett, Marina, Evelyn, Boyd; siblings, Linda Glass, Vince Gomez; nieces, Renea Glass, Melinda Gomez, Melissa Gomez, Nichol Nix; many cousins and extended family and friends.

Visitation 1-8 pm, family greeting 5-7 pm Monday, at Smith Mortuary-Derby, 1415 N. Rock Road. Recitation of the Rosary 10 am; 10:30 am Mass of the Christian Burial both on Tuesday, May 10, at St. Michael Catholic Church 525 E. Main, Mulvane.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial is with The Catholic Charities, 2825 S. Hillside Wichita 67216.

Joyce June Jones, age 71, arrived at her heavenly home on May 4, 2016. She was welcomed by the love of her life, Boyd Edward Jones, who had arrived 7 years earlier on September 14, 2009. Their relationship was a fantastic romance of love, companionship and support for almost 43 years. June had often said that Boyd completed her by finishing her sentences and remembering dates that she sometimes forgot. And if it wasn’t for dad keeping her on time, she was usually running slightly behind schedule. June loved to shop and Boyd was an avid reader. So they would oblige each other when Boyd would take June to the store of her choice, while he would simply park the car and read his books.

Boyd and June met in Wichita while he was stationed at McConnell Air Force Base. Boyd was from Indiana, but he quickly loved Wichita because that was where he met the love of his life. They were married on September 30, 1966 in Wichita. In 1970, June returned to Indiana to be close to Boyd’s family. June quickly fell in love with the beauty of Indiana and the rolling hills, corn fields, farms and lovely old barns. Many of her paintings were inspired by the landscape of Indiana. June became family with Boyd’s second family – Mike & Marilyn Rust and Mike’s parents, George and Bea Rust.

In Indiana, June further enhanced her cooking skills by learning from Bea. Bea taught her how to cook without recipes. Of course, June knew how to make amazing Mexican food thanks to her Mexican heritage. She hand made her own tortillas – mostly a lost art now. The best was when they came hot off the placa and she melted butter on them. Delicious!

June worked tirelessly throughout her life. She worked many jobs that were strenuous such as at Tweco, making welding guns. She was a retired Cessna machinist, working there from 1995 – 2002 making airplane parts out of composite. Those were the jobs that paid the bills. Her true passion was in arts and crafts, and she was a multi-talented, life-long artist. Her mediums of choice included various types of painting, stained glass, painted porcelain sculptures, stitchery, Candlewicking, crochet and quilting, just to name a few of her favorites. Her favorite medium was creating special teddy bears, reusing antique chenille quilts. Many of these works are in homes nationwide. As tributes have come in for June, many have posted photos of her favorite works that she had created for them.

June was a loving mother to two children – Jessica Johnson, born June 12, 197# and Seth Jones, born April 26, 1977. Janell was stillborn in March, 1973. June was a wonderful mother, working hard so the children had everything they wanted. She helped her son, Seth Jones, find his love for comic books. Ask Seth the official story. It goes something like - June had found a treasure trove of comics and introduced Seth to them. He fell in love with them quickly, and the pursuit of classic comics of value became a fun hobby for them both.

Before there was a Martha Stewart, there was June Jones. June always enjoyed planning and making special events. From creating surprise birthday parties to New Year’s Eve parties, there were always fun activities in the Jones household. On the 20th reunion of the Wichita South Colonels in 1982 – June was in charge of creating 50 2-foot tall Colonels for the event centerpieces. She drew each one on foam core free-hand, cut it with an Exacto knife and colored it in. They looked like a small army of red and blue cowboys when she was done and it was a big hit. One year for the New Year’s Eve party, she found several bags of confetti that she thought would make a festive ending of the night. Confetti was everywhere by the end of the night. It was impossible to clean it all up from the home. You could find confetti in the home a year later. Confetti was banned from any Jones event after that.

Truly the biggest joy in her life was becoming grandma Noni. The arrival of the first grandchild, Jett Johnson, who was born on October 16, 2002. June retired from Cessna to stay home to care for her first grandson while Jessica returned to work full time at the City of Wichita. When Marina Johnson arrived on July 14, 2006, June was still enjoying watching the children full-time. Evelyn Jones, June’s third grandchild, was born to Seth and Adrianne on December 7, 2006. Boyd Jones, who was named after his grandfather, was born on October 5, 2012. Both the Jones and Johnsons lived in northeast Kansas and June had intended to move closer to them at some point.

Everything that June did was for her family. As she did not have much as a child, she made up for it with her own children, and her grandchildren. Christmas was a favorite holiday of June’s. She worked many a craft shows leading up to the holidays to pay for the family Christmas. As the years shifted from her own children to her grandchildren, she made sure that the entire family had plenty to open and they got exactly what they wanted.

June enjoyed her final days spending time with her children and grandchildren. She recently traveled to the Kansas State gymnastics meet to watch Marina participate. They spent the day in Emporia together enjoying a day in the gym watching Marina. June also made a point to watch the kids play all of their sports: Jett in basketball and soccer, Marina in gymnastics and soccer, Evelyn and Boyd both in soccer.

Her hobbies included gambling at various casinos with her cousins – Richard and Cecily Jimenez. They would go to Mulvane or down in Oklahoma and be surprisingly lucky. Even most recently, June won $500 last week at the casino with the Jimenez family!

June is preceded in death by her parents, Nick and Joyce Gomez; husband, Boyd; daughter, Janell Maria Jones. She is survived by her children, Jessica (Mark) Johnson; Seth (Adrianne) Jones; grandchildren, Jett, Marina, Evelyn, Boyd; siblings, Linda Glass, Vince Gomez; nieces, Renea Glass, Melinda Gomez, Melissa Gomez, Nichol Nix; many cousins and extended family and friends.

June, this is not goodbye, but a we will see you soon. We know there is a special place in heaven that has welcomed you with open arms. You have always been such a giving person. Rest in peace knowing that you touched so many of our lives and we are appreciating you in ways we cannot express or ever thank you enough.

We love you, June, Mom, Grandma Noni, Aunt Junie, Cousin, Friend… See you in heaven!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

10:00 AM

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Tuesday, May 10, 2016

10:30 AM

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