Dorothy R. Jones

Dorothy Jones, known affectionately to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as “Dossey,” was born Dorothy Jean Ranks in Hollis, Maine, on June 15, 1935, to Eugene Morrill Ranks and Evelyn Annie (Farrar) Ranks. She was the fifth of six children, with four older sisters and a little brother. She grew up in Buxton, first in Groveville and later in Chicopee. During that time, she attended various schools, among them what is now the West Buxton Library and the former Hanson Elementary, then Hanson High School, from which she graduated. She attended Freed-Hardemann Christian College in Henderson, Tennessee, where she met the love of her life, Kentuckian and gospel preacher James C. Jones. After they married in 1955, they moved all over the Southern United States, following James’s appointments as preacher in various Churches of Christ. Their son, John Eugene, was born in 1957 in Kansas City, Missouri, their daughter, Julie Ruth, in Brownwood, Texas, in 1959. In 1963, they took their two small children and moved to Stavanger, Norway, to serve as missionaries for a church there. Their second daughter, Susan Debra, was born in Stavanger in 1964. After returning to the United States in 1965, they moved to Richmond, Virginia, where their third daughter, Melissa Ann, was born in 1968. Dorothy loved living in Virginia. In 1970, the family moved to Buxton, Maine, where they raised their children in the house where Dorothy had grown up, surrounded by Dorothy’s large extended family. Once again, Dorothy and James served in a Church of Christ which they started. She enjoyed sewing, knitting beautiful Norwegian sweaters, and making quilts, especially for the babies of everyone she ever knew. Dorothy devoted herself to her unwavering faith in God and to her beloved family. Truly, Dorothy knew no greater joy than loving and caring for those she loved. Always counting herself last, she knew the foibles of those around her, but gently set those aside and unwaveringly gave anyone who needed it a safe and love-filled place to land within her open arms. No gentler, kinder soul ever graced this earth. Everyone, from her close family to complete strangers, saw her sweet spirit and would have defended her from anything. This phenomenon even became an affectionate running joke within her family. Her husband of nearly 60 years often said that Dorothy had no guile, and no one ever disagreed. . . . and so, Mama, Dossey, Dorothy . . . you have left a huge empty space, but we will always fill it with the never-ending love that was and will always be you and hug it tight whenever we miss you, which will be all the time. Thank you for being the best of everything to all of us, the best Mama, Grandma, etc., anyone could have. Dorothy is predeceased by her husband, James, her sweet son John, her precious grandson Malachi, and four of her siblings: Ruth Leavitt, Barbara Brown, Lillian Schoonmaker, and Herbert Ranks. She leaves behind her three daughters: Julie Turcotte with husband Jon, Susan Eberhart, happily single, and Melissa Cusano with husband Jim; her daughter-in-law Lisa Kelton, close as any daughter; ten grandchildren: Inga, Margaret, Amber, Jotham, Owen, Emily, Elias, Nick, Sam, and Eva; eight great-grandchildren, her loving sister, Gwendolyn Hatch, her cherished cousin, Evelyn Cady, and many, many others too numerous to list here, but she loved every single one of you. Visiting hours will be held on Saturday, January 21st from 11-1, directly followed by a Celebration of Life at 1 pm at West Buxton Baptist Church, 62 Parker Farm Rd. in Buxton. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dorothy‘s name to PSL Strive. https://www.pslstrive.org/

Dorothy R. Jones

June 15, 1935 - January 17, 2023

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