Madelyn Gaines Jones

On Sunday, December 15, 2019, Madelyn G. Jones, 82, passed away peacefully holding her daughters’ hands. The daughter of JC Gaines and Cora Belle Gaines, Madelyn was born in Houston, Texas. However, her family moved to Bryan/College Station where her father served as a lead researcher and Department Head for the Entomology Department at Texas A&M. Madelyn graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in Bryan in 1955 and majored in education at the University of Auburn in Alabama. She left college to marry Manley W. Jones of Bryan and start a family. She was the proud mother to her daughters, Cheryl and Heather, served as a homemaker, and eventually became the Department Head of the Monterey Nursing Home in Ohio. She divorced in 1977 and brought her girls to Texas so they could be closer to their family. Madelyn began her career in Waco, Texas as the Assistant to the Registrar in 1979, was promoted to Associate Registrar and eventually the University Registrar in 1982, until she retired in 2007. While she held a full-time job at Baylor, she went back to college at Baylor in order to obtain her B.S. in Education. A special surprise commencement ceremony was held for her in private by President Herbert Reynolds to present her degree. During her career she received many accolades including The W.R. White Meritorious Service Award in recognition of her service by the Baylor Alumni Association. She was a proud member of the Central Texas Watercolor Society, Baylor Round Table, and certified in decorative arts for the Historic Waco Foundation. She frequently painted with her daughter, Heather, in her home art studio and sold her work locally, online, and this fall she had been chosen to feature her art at the Emporium at Eibands gallery in Galveston, Texas. Known for her elegant style & sense of humor, friends frequently invited her to play bridge and volunteer for charities including Meals on Wheels. She was loved by many, always dressed to the nines, and many say she won “Best Dressed at H.E.B.” for the last several decades. The Memorial Service is at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 601 Columbus Ave in Waco, on January 6, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Ashes will be placed in the Memorial Garden and a tribute luncheon will follow. She is survived by Cheryl Jones Mountin of Dallas and Heather Jones Taylor of Houston. For more information and gifts, please contact Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, www.WHBfamily.com.