The spunky Miss Barbara Jones

When you work on an estate sale for hours and hours, you begin to learn a lot about the owner if you never met him or her in person. Most Perryans will know Miss Barbara Jones, who is currently in a nursing facility battling Alzheimer’s.

Miss Jones was born in Hawaii at Tripler Filed Hospital a few years before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. An only child, she got to travel the globe with her parents, going to many Army bases including an assignment to Walter Reed Hospital during World War II. Her father, Dudley served with the occupation forces in Japan and Germany after the war as well.

After serving there, her father was stationed at Cochran Field. The little family moved into the large rambling Victorian home on Evergreen and purchased a jewelry store.

The house was built for the First Baptist Church as a parsonage, and then the Jones family became the second owners. Barbara enjoyed living in Perry, and after graduation she went on to Shorter College in Rome to earn a fine arts degree in elementary education. She taught in school in Rome, Atlanta and Albany before deciding to come home to learn the jewelry business. She was a talented artist and had many hobbies.

The family bought a travel trailer and traveled all over the continental United States as well as going on many trips to Europe and the Holy Land. Miss Barbara never married nor had children, but she served Perry in many ways through the Pilot Club, Kiwanis Club, Downtown Merchants Association and as president of the Historical Society.

We will be selling Miss Barbara’s estate April 13-14, the proceeds to provide for Miss Barbara’s care. I hope she knows how much she was loved by her family, friends and the community, and that Alzheimer has not robbed her completely of her cherished memories.

The last entries in her story were about the great joys plus the great sadness of losing both of her parents within seven weeks of each other. She was able to make it through the dark times with the help of her faith and friends, saying she was a survivor and had spunk!

God bless you Miss Barbara Jones!

On another note, I am retiring as the supervisor of the antiques at the Georgia National Fair. Between real estate and estate liquidation, I have less and less time for myself and my family so I have to give up some things I love. It is a great short term job for someone that loves antiques and is knowledgeable about them. Contact me or Sandy Kusuda at the fair if you are interested!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 27 years, she is an estate liquidation specialist and licensed REALTOR. You can contact her at falen@windstream.net or through the HHJ.
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