06.03.2014
Tributes Paid to Dr Valerie Jones
Tributes have been paid to Dr Valerie Jones (pictured) who died on Friday last, February 28. Valerie made a significant contribution to the Church of Ireland at central Church, diocesan and parish level and was a member of General Synod and Standing Committee as well as Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Synod. She was also Diocesan Communications Officer for Dublin and Glendalough for a number of years and a great proponent of the Irish language.
Her funeral took place in St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, yesterday, Wednesday March 6.
The Vicar of St Ann’s, the Revd David Gillespie, introduced the service with the following words:
We have come here this afternoon to remember our dear sister, Valerie, to give thanks for her life and to commend her to the eternal care of God.
We meet in the church in which she was married, and in which her parents worshipped regularly, to reminisce, to forgive and to look forward.
In the midst of our loss, we remember with gratitude the life of one whose spirit – despite increasing frailty in more recent times – fought on in the face of adversity.
We thank God for all who have cared for Valerie and for the love of Stuart, Heather and Mark which brought such joy and comfort in her last days and throughout her life.
We are grateful today for many things, not least the kindness of others, and for those who brought relief from pain and shared the burden of sickness.
Valerie Jones was well–known throughout the Church of Ireland, as is evidenced by the significant numbers of people at this service.
She has left her mark on many aspects of parochial, diocesan and national church life. There are few, who are as well versed as she was in the particular ways of Irish Anglicanism.
In the united diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, she worked under two Archbishops of Dublin as Diocesan Communications Officer.
A member of both General Synod and Diocesan Synod, she was associated with the Board of the Church of Ireland Gazette and, for many years, was a member of Standing Committee which carries out the work of the General Synod.
A teacher by profession, she had a lifelong interest in education and was a robust advocate of the role of faith based schools in Irish society.
A fluent Irish speaker, she was a leading member of the Irish Guild of the Church, which celebrates its centenary this year.
Indeed in the last notes she submitted, on behalf of St Ann’s Church, to the diocesan magazine, The Review she commented on St Ann’s role in 1914, and I quote:
“While everyone knows that central parishes like St Ann’s, St Mark’s and St Stephen’s were heavily involved in army activities when the First World War started that year. A further important foundation was that of the Irish Guild of the Church.
“The first group interested in the organisation met in St Ann’s in January 1914 and this led to a foundation meeting in April 1914. It will be interesting to see how the centenary will be celebrated in April 2014.”
Up until a short time before her death, she was the Honorary Secretary of the Select Vestry of St Ann’s and St Stephen’s Churches only stepping aside when it was no longer possible for her to assist the parish as she once did.
It was in that role that she encouraged St Ann’s to support a young theological student, Nathan Nafuye at Uganda Christian University.
And when Nathan was ordained, only last year, on completion of his training, she persuaded the parish to continue its financial support of Kumi Diocese by drilling the first of two wells to provide clean drinking water in association with the Irish–aid organisation Fields of Life.
When he was a student in Dublin, under the auspices of the Irish Council for International Students, Joseph Okalebo – now the manager of the Uganda Red Cross Society – worshipped in St Ann’s and was befriended by the Jones family. The following words are his:
“It is a pity that my friend is no longer with us.
“The Lord has called her back!
“We thank God for the time he gave Valerie on earth.
“I know that, in God, she lives.
“I will miss my Irish mother – I fondly called her so dearly. She did wonderful things for us.
“It is my sincere hope that the link between the Jones family and me will remain.
“My heartfelt condolences to Pappa Stuart Jones her life time friend.
“May the Almighty God rest her soul in eternal peace.
“And may God comfort all of her family members, and all my friends in St Ann’s Church.”
In this Service of Thanksgiving we commend Valerie Jones to God: her creator, redeemer and judge.
There is, of course, a sense of sorrow in our midst, and rightly so. But we take comfort in the faith that is ours through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
May those who grieve at this time, Stuart, Mark and Heather among them, have the faith to see in death the gate of eternal life. And may they, and members of the extended family circle, take comfort from the words of today’s Gospel:
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.
“I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
The Chairman of the Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Communications Committee, Dr Kenneth Milne, also paid tribute to Valerie
For many people, an abiding memory of Valerie Jones relates to her time as press officer for the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, when, assiduous in her attendance and camera in hand, she was present at Church events both great and small. She believed that the relatively small parish occasions of local significance were deserving of attention every bit as much as the grand occasions.
While diocesan events mattered immensely to her, her heart was in the parishes, and she travelled many miles on wintry nights to ensure that parochial activities were duly recorded.
She brought her critical faculties, informed by academic work, to bear on the Church of Ireland, and, greatly though she loved her Church was by no means hesitant in expressing her views: though these never obtruded on the professionalism of her reporting.
It says much for the esteem in which Valerie was held by many journalists (and that, of course, includes broadcasters) that on her retirement from the Dublin and Glendalough press office, they held a dinner in her honour.