Elsie Joan Jones

NEW GLASGOW – Elsie Joan Jones, 95, of Highcrest Place, New Glasgow, and formerly of Martin Ave. and Kestrel Ridge, New Glasgow, passed away peacefully after a brief illness on Wednesday, June 15th, 2016.

Born in London, England on June 26, 1920, she was the youngest child of William A. and Ellen E. (Greene) Raine.

Joan was cherished by her older brothers, Stan, Bill and Bert, and spent many happy years alternately tormenting them and being doted on by them. She grew up in a home of love and caring and carried those traits into her marriage to the love of her life, Thomas George (Tom) Jones.

Joan began her working life at 18 as a British Civil Servant and only one year later endured the terrible war years in London, miraculously surviving the Blitz but losing her brother Stan at the very end of the war. We have been fascinated by her stories, both tragic and joyful, of life in London before, during and after the war.

She married Tom in 1946 and a few years later they ventured to Canada, then Germany and, finally, Halifax with Tom’s army career. Joan was a strong and resilient woman who would pick up and move and find work wherever they went. She especially loved her time as Assistant Librarian Periodicals Dept. at the Killam Library, Dalhousie University, where she worked from the mid-‘60s to 1975, when they moved to New Glasgow after Tom’s retirement from the military.

Joan took great pride in her family and home and was devoted to both. She was happiest when surrounded by her loved ones. She had a great sense of adventure, loved to travel, and made her first trip to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico at the young age of 89. She was an avid reader and life-long learner. Google became her Encyclopedia Britannica. She loved crosswords, puzzles, books and music.

Sadly, Joan was predeceased by her parents, her brothers, her husband and soul-mate Tom, son Steven, in infancy, and her four-legged “Best Boy” Tucker.

Left to mourn are her beloved only child, Sybil (Daryn) Smith, New Glasgow, her grandchildren in whom she took enormous pride, Sarah Helppi, London, England, and Thomas Smith, at home; her precious great-granddaughter, Ruby Cuthbert, London, and her much loved niece and nephew, Mike Raine, London, and Josie Manton, Seaford, England, and their families.

Cremation has taken place under the direction of R.H. Porter Funeral Home, New Glasgow, where the family will receive visitors from 7 to 9 p.m. on Sunday, June 19th. A graveside committal service will be held in the Abercrombie Cemetery at 11 a.m. on Monday, June 20th, with the Rev. Ken MacLeod officiating.

Donations in Joan’s memory may be made to the Aberdeen Hospital Palliative Care Unit or the Pictou County SPCA.

Condolences may be sent by visiting www.rhporter.ca.