Carol Jones
Carol Jones

Fall River, Mass. — Thursday, May 4, 2017, Carol Jones, wife of the late Alfred Leroy Jones, passed peacefully at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River. Carol is survived by her three children, Meredith Commons Russo, Clayton Walter Commons and Geoffrey Arnold Commons, and stepchildren, Lawrence Jones and Tammy MacDonald. She leaves 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She had been recently residing at Franklin Court assisted living in Bristol, R.I.

Born in Revere, Mass. on July 29, 1925, to Clara (Gillette) and Ralph S. Emerson, Carol grew up in Newport and in Middletown, on 24 Boulevard. She graduated from Rogers H.S. in 1942. As a young woman Carol helped the war effort by acting as a plane spotter in the tower at St. George’s School. She graduated from URI in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science and became a registered Medical Technologist. She was a member of the Sachems, an editor of the student newspaper, the Beacon and the Grist, the URI yearbook. She was a proud member of the sorority, Delta Zeta.

After college Carol worked at Mayo Clinic in Minn. before moving to Worcester, Mass. in 1953 with her first husband and six mo. old baby girl. Carol worked as a bacteriologist at a number of hospitals in the Worcester area over the course of her working career. Prior to her and her husband Alfred’s retirement, they resided for many years in Charlton, Mass. where she served for a time as the town health officer, a job she relished

Carol was a long time resident of South Royalton, Vt. where she was active with the Vermont Institute for Natural Science, the local Lions Club and was organist for many years for the Royalton Congregational Church. She loved to go swimming and tubing in the White River.

Always a lover of the outdoors, nature, biology and all things furry and winged, Carol was a birder and loved to swim, canoe, and go for walks in all seasons. She canoed and snowshoed into her 91st year, her spirit always willing even when her body weakened with age. She was active and interested in everything; opinionated and forthright but happy and engaged to the end. She was a very big supporter of conservation organizations and animal rescue efforts.

Carol also was a lifelong lover of music and played the piano, organ and cello.

A memorial service was held on Friday evening, June 16 at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Bristol, R.I. located at 281 High Street.

A second memorial service will be held in Vt. later in the summer. A notice will be printed here prior to the event.

In lieu of flowers, Carol’s family would be pleased if donations could be made to The National Wildlife Federation.