Yvonne Jones has had a full plate for a number of years.
A retired school teacher since 2004, Jones has spent her retirement doing for others.
The Lenoir County native graduated from South Lenoir High School in 1969, and earned a teaching degree in business and marketing at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, married Gary A. Jones and began teaching at Woodington Middle School — all in 1973.
She began working on her master’s degree when, in 1982, her world turned upside-down.
“We had our second child,” Jones said, “and that’s when our lives drastically changed. Our second child was born and suffered a brain hemorrhage on the third day of life, which resulted in her being cerebral palsy, quadriplegic and non-verbal.”
Miranda Jones required daily care around the clock, yet her parents were able to care for her and continue to teach with assistance from home care nurses.
When Miranda was about 7 years old, her parents enrolled her in a special needs program at school. Through the years, Miranda experienced bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia. This month, she will be celebrating her 31st birthday.
“Every day,” Jones said, “(Miranda) puts a big smile on our face. … It has made us a better person, for sure. It has given us empathy for others.”
Jones spent the last 22 years of her 30-year career teaching at her alma mater, South Lenoir, where her husband was also teaching.
“We have a special needs child,” she said, “and in spite of that, we’ve been able to overcome obstacles and volunteer.”
Jones began volunteering at Lenoir Memorial Hospital in 2005, and her husband began volunteering there about a year later.
“By volunteering,” she said, “my husband and I are supporting a community resource that my family has used and one that we care about — that being LMH.”
She works at the service desk and greets people, delivers mail and email, escorts patients around the hospital and has served as the volunteer recording secretary. He works in the critical care unit.
Jones will be installed as vice president of the LMH Volunteers in October and representing them as a delegate at the N.C. Hospital Volunteers State Conference this weekend.
She sings in the choir and handles the greeting card ministry at Kinston First Pentecostal Holiness Church. She sends out about 30 cards a week to people on the church prayer list who are sick, shut-in or in nursing homes.
“I think what I love about it,” Jones said, “is when I can’t make a personal visit, I’m visiting a person’s home and putting a smile on their face or (giving them) a word of encouragement.”
In 2010, she donated stem cells for her brother, Myron Carter, who was diagnosed in 2001 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His condition was deteriorating, but the disease has since been in remission.
“The doctor didn’t give him much hope without a transplant,” Jones said, “and I was the perfect match (as a stem cell donor). … I feel like I’ve saved his life.”
Jones, who has been married for 40 years, enjoys shopping, traveling, baking goodies for others and spending time with her grandchildren, and she and her husband were fond of taking their three children on camping trips when they were young.
She recommends to others to be positive, enthusiastic, work toward a goal and put God first.
“Look beyond your situation or circumstance,” Jones said. “There are things we cannot change, but we can be the change that makes a difference in someone else’s life.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Breakout box:
Who:Yvonne Jones
Age:62
Position:Lenoir Memorial Hospital volunteer
Hobbies:Greeting card ministry, baking for others, shopping, traveling
Passion:Community, career, caring for a special needs daughter
Family:Husband, Gary A. Jones; three children