Viewing Option for Streaming at First Baptist Church West
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joZ0Ih-dsbM

type in Clara Jones service

Ms. Clara J. Jones, 92 of Charlotte, entered eternal rest on Sunday, February 7, 2021 Atrium Health-Mercy.

There are people in the world who profoundly touch others, often in ways unknown to themselves - even with their intentionality. Mrs. Clara Josephine Hawkins Jones was such a person. She did so as a wife, mother and music teacher. Those roles reflect her great priorities in life: faith, family and education. Whether known as Josephine, Clara, Momma, Grandma, Great-Grandma or simply Mrs. Jones, she was indeed a "love force of nature." Her enduring legacy is permanently changed lives from her influence.

She often refused to accept "no" as an answer because she had fought through so many "no's" throughout her life as the daughter of sharecroppers (Baldie and Mary Alston Hawkins). Josephine, as she was known in her youth, was born in the impoverished rural south - Franklin County, NC - as the youngest of seven children (Alec, Helen, Lucy, Julia Alice, John who all preceded her in death).

Perhaps the best way to share this life story of this wife, mother and teacher is through the documented words chronicling her life and endearing influence.

"As a daughter of sharecroppers, I grew up barefoot in rural Franklin County - the poorest county in North Carolina - thirty miles north of Raleigh. Life was reduced to finding enough money to get us through the next day. No electricity, no refrigerator, basically, no nothing. After the death of my father in 1933, when I was five, my mother struggled to make ends meet. We barely stayed afloat. Fortunately, whatever we lacked in money we more than made up for in love and faith."

"My elementary school principal, Dr. Ellen Alston, owned a radio and, on some evenings, I would venture over to her house to sit in her dining room. There I would close my eyes and listen for hours on end. As I look back, I know her little radio didn't change my life - it probably saved it. It was through her tiny radio that I got my first taste of the great composers which was, literally, music to my ears. As a result, I dreamed of becoming a pianist. Dr. Alston sensed my desires and gave me my first piano lesson. She bragged endlessly about my abilities, even during those moments when I'd rather not practice. With the love and support from people like Dr. Alston, they led me to believe I could complete this journey. For me, the door leading to a better world would be through music and education."

"With a hint of better opportunities to the north, my family moved to Newport News, Virginia, a stone's throw from Hampton Institute. Somehow, someway, I was going to attend this fine institution and study music. For the next few years, I devoted myself completely to my academics and music. Then, in 1948 - thanks to family, friends, and of course, the Divine hand - it all came together; I graduated cum laude from Hampton Institute."

After graduation, Clara Hawkins took a teaching position in Charlotte, N.C. where she met and married her late husband, Deacon Cedric H. Jones in 1952. While married with four children, she earned her Masters degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. They were married from 1952 until his death in 2007. Both were committed church people who loved the Lord, she as a Choral Director and Organist and he as a 50-year Deacon and committed Layman at the First Baptist Church West.

She taught for 30 years in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and then built the largest independently owned piano studio in the city, before completely retiring in 2011. Throughout her 60+ year career, she always served the Lord as a church musician and developer of subsequent generations of church musicians. The results of her teaching success have garnered accolades from the NAACP, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the Charlotte Symphony, the Mint Museum, the Arts and Science Council and First Baptist Church-West, just to name a few. To God be the glory– How Great Thou Art.

Among the many who have treasured and now mourn her, we note her four children, Mona J. Roberts (Malcolm), Cedrella Carol Jones-Taylor, Ina J. Jones and Cedric H. Jones, Jr.; eight grandchildren, Tabia, Jerry, Jasmine, Neal, Jensine, Kamali, Nkosi and Nia; a special granddaughter, Andrea; three great-grandchildren; a host of nieces, nephews, beloved friends and thousands of students.

"Let the work I've done speak for me." Mama/Grandma, your works have spoken. And the LORD now speaks, "well done, thy good and faithful servant." Or musically, in your favorite piece to play on the piano, "sit down servant and rest a little while ..."

In Lieu of Flowers, Family Suggests
Donation to the Clara Jones Endowed Scholarship at Hampton University. Here's how:

- By Check or Money Order via Mail
Hampton University
Office of Development,
200 William R. Harvey Way, Hampton, VA 23668
Payable to Hampton University, WITH Clara H. Jones Endowed Scholarship in the Memo Section

- By Online Giving
Link is https://givetohamptonu.org/ways-to-give/
and the online gift page appears as follows:

* Enter Gift Amount
* Check Select Designation of My Choice
* Enter Comment: Clara Hawkins Jones End. Sch.
* Complete Transaction