Dr. Johnette Jones Williams June 3, 1939 Sept. 15, 2024 Service commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Jones-Williams will unfold at the Winnfield Memorial Funeral Home, 318 North Street, Natchitoches, LA on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at 10:30 a. m.
Rev. Herbert Baptiste will officiate. The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority will perform the Ivy Beyond the Wall Ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Interment will follow the funeral service.
Johnette Jones Williams was born on June 3, 1939, in Natchitoches, LA. to Bertrand Robert Jones and Veatrice Baptiste Jones. Johnette was blessed to be the older sister of Betty Jones Hooker (1941-2006) and Altonette Juanita Jackson (1950-) Johnette was a proud member of Natchitoches Central High School, Class of 1957, she left Natchitoches to attend college at Grambling State University, Class of 1961. It was while she was attending Grambling that she joined the Alpha Theta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. In Phoenix, she was a member of the Delta Beta Omega chapter. Her membership in the sorority was a constant in her life and spanned over 60 years. She began her teaching career in Allen, LA teaching high school social studies before leaving to continue her education at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana with a MA in Library Science. It was in Illinois that she met Andrew Williams, who she had remained married to for 57 years.
Johnette received a PhD in Higher Education from Arizona State University. She was also a recipient of a one- year Fellowship to the University of Denver, along with several education leadership programs both at Bryn Mawr College and Harvard University. Her career in Higher Education was mostly spent in the Maricopa Community College System, at Glendale Community College where she worked for over 30 years. She was the Director of Library Services for 15 years, and spent a few years as a professor and mentor in the teacher education program.
Johnette loved her family and for a long time was the keeper of our history. Music (of any genre) brought her hours of joy along with working in the garden. She loved visiting her daughter and grandsons in Boston, braving the harsh winters just to be with them. We will miss her smile and her laugh. We will miss the way she would sing a song even if she did not know all the words. We will miss her love of a fire in the fireplace regardless of the temperature outside. We Will Miss the Way She Loved Us.
Johnette is survived by her husband, Andrew Williams; daughter, Carvina Gary Williams; Grandsons, Edward (Tripp) and Andrew (Drew) Hill; sister, Altonette Jackson; nieces, Alesia Shealey (Gerald), Bettina Blocker, Jean Esther Owens, and Joanne Clinton; nephews, Bertrand Hooker, Isaac Wells(Sonya), and San Juan Wells (Natifya). Johnette is also survived by many other nephews and nieces in the next generation of family: Myles, Alton, Nico, Isaac, Keyera,and SaMya. Johnette also leaves behind the extended family and a large circle of friends near and far.
She was preceeded in death by her father, Bertrand R. Jones, mother; Veatrice Baptiste Prostel; sister, Betty Jones Hooker, and son-in -law Edward Hill, Jr.