Obituary of June Darling Jones

JONES: June Darling Jones of Brandon, beloved wife of Lawrence Jones and mother of Laura Jones, died of congestive heart failure on Tuesday, October 29th, at the Brandon Regional Health Centre. Aged 81, June was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but grew up and went to school in the nearby town of Mars. Her skill and enthusiasm for music led to state awards for her clarinet playing; but at 15 she was struck with severe attacks of arthritis. By performing four sympathectomies, Drs. Margolis and Koskoff of the Pittsburgh Montefiore Jewish Hospital saved her life. They then modelled her arthritic hands into a shape that allowed her to play the French Horn. She began university studies at Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham). Lessons with Forrest Standley, first horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony led her to transfer to the Yale University School of Music. There she completed both Bachelor's and Master's degrees. Her horn teacher was John Barrows, but she also had lessons in New York with Gunther Schuller. On graduating in 1959, she qualified for a teaching certificate, and taught in West Virginia and North Hills, Pennsylvania. In 1962, she married pianist Lawrence Jones - they met at Yale - and she joined him in Brandon; he had just begun an appointment to the music program at Brandon College. Almost immediately she took up a teaching position with the Souris School Division, where she initiated and directed their instrumental music program, 1962-1967. She also taught as a Sessional Lecturer at Brandon University School of Music. In 1972, June took out Canadian citizenship, and from 1974-77 was twice elected to the Brandon School Board. Around that time she also began working as a music cataloguer for Brandon University. After studies toward a Master of Library Science at the University of Iowa, in 1978 she became Music Librarian at BU. She was proud to join Terry Mitchell in the team that developed BUCAT, a computerized index of Brandon University's holdings. In the 1980s she helped design the Music Library in the QE II Music Building, a space that opened in 1988. At the same time she presided over expansions of the Reference and Periodicals collections, and successfully applied for a SSHRC grant to enlarge holdings in Music Theatre. She retired as Music Librarian in 1997. June is survived by her husband, Lawrence, daughter, Laura, sisters-in-law Marjorie (Arthur) and Olive, brother-in-law Alex Grant, nephew Bruce Grant and niece Heather Grant. Close cousins Marietta Reeb and Tom Berkebile live in Western Pennsylvania. She was predeceased by her parents, Valley Dean (nee Darling), and Lester Dean; and by sister-in-law, Ruth Grant. A funeral service is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., Saturday, November 2nd, at Brockie Donovan Funeral Home, 332- 8th Street, with Rev. Dr. Dong-Ha Kim of First Presbyterian Church as minister. No flowers, please. Donations in honour of June can be made to the June and Lawrence Jones Scholarship in Music History and Literature, c/o Brandon University, Brandon, MB, R7A 6A9; or to the Arthritis Society, Suite 105-386 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 3R6.