Mary Elizabeth Randolph Jones, 92, social-service coordinator

Mary E. Jones
Mary E. Jones
By Sally A. Downey, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: February 23, 2011

Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Randolph Jones, 92, of Mount Airy, a retired social-service coordinator, died of heart failure Wednesday, Feb. 16, at Chestnut Hill Hospital.

A native of the East Bronx in New York City, Mrs. Jones earned a bachelor's degree from New York University and a master's degree in social work from Atlanta University.

While in Atlanta, she met Sercy L. Jones, a divinity student. They married in 1943. For the next 24 years, she was a supportive pastor's wife as he ministered in churches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.

In the early 1950s, when her husband was pastor of Siloam United Methodist Church in Chester, the couple befriended Martin Luther King Jr., then a seminary student at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester. King spoke at Siloam and dined at the Joneses' home. Their relationship with him deepened the Joneses' commitment to civil rights, their family said.

In 1961, Mrs. Jones and her husband moved to Philadelphia after he was appointed pastor of Haven United Methodist Church in North Philadelphia. He died in 1967, when the youngest of their five children was 7. Mrs. Jones always put her children's needs before her own, said her daughter, Iris Elijah.

Mrs. Jones was a social worker for relocation services for the City of Philadelphia. She was later a caseworker for the Department of Health and Human Services and for North Philadelphia Comprehensive Health Services. From 1979 until retiring in 1990, she was social-service coordinator for the Head Start program at the Philadelphia Parent Child Center in North Philadelphia.

Mrs. Jones, who was adopted as a baby, was a strong advocate for adoption and foster care. She instilled a passion for service in her children, all of whom went into social work or the helping professions, her daughter said.

She was active with the United Methodist Ministers Wives Association and the United Methodist Women's Society, and was former recording secretary for the Mount Airy Cresheim Neighbors Association.

She played piano for pleasure and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Jones is survived by sons Carroll, Francis, and Marcus; 13 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. A son, Randolph, died in 2004.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Advocate-St. Stephen's United Methodist Church, 5213 Germantown Ave. Friends may call from 9 a.m. Burial will be in Ivy Hill Cemetery.

Contact staff writer Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or sdowney@phillynews.com.

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