December 5, 1931 – August 13, 2023
Willa Kaye Jones died August 13, 2023 in Sioux Falls. She was 91 years old. She was known for her great wit, wisdom and enthusiasm for life.
Willa Kaye was born to Mertie Lillian Gipson and Paul Eugene Byington on December 5, 1931. She joined a blended family of five children, four of whom had lost their biological mother. Her childhood days were spent playing with friends and cousins fishing, playing along the Missouri River and engaging in various activities common to a child of the 1930’s. She recalls her father working long hours on the railroad as an engineer and her mother tending to a busy household.
She met and fell in love with a dashing young man by the name of Laurie Jones. Three weeks after her 17th birthday, they were married in Miles City, MT by a friend of Laurie’s, a shoe sales clerk who was studying for the ministry. The event took place in a little church that Willa liked to describe as the “little brown church in the vale.”
They lived in Miles City for a short while before moving to the Jones family farm and ranching homestead near Trail City. There, they raised cattle, grain crops, and their best crop of all, five children.
Willa Kaye was an avid reader, a writer of great potential, awesome artist, and promoter of all things educational. She made a point of instilling a love for knowledge and learning in all her children. She was an independent thinker and supporter of social justice in all areas. She loved to write editorials for local newspapers on issues and was known for her great interest in all things spiritual. She taught Sunday School at the Timber Lake Baptist Church, served on a drug and alcohol dependency board for many years, and became a camp counselor for children with behavioral problems. She loved gardening and the great outdoors and was a constant and supportive partner with her husband in the ranching and farming business. Her children would say that her greatest interest was in being a loving and caring mother and wife, and that her zest for life greatly influenced her children.
Retirement years for her and Laurie included living in Bella Vista, AR. Golfing, being with friends and family, and traveling back to South Dakota each spring to help with the family business kept them busy. Traveling was high on their list of adventures and they got to see many parts of the United States and made their dream trip to New Zealand and Australia come true.
After Laurie passed away in 2008, Willa Kaye moved back to South Dakota and resided in Sioux Falls for 15 years. Her children and grandchildren loved to stop by to visit her hoping to glean her many insights into life. Family was everything to her.
Grateful for having shared her life are her daughters, Jodi Schwab (Dave), Sioux Falls; Peggy Opp (Duane), Tacoma, WA; and Karen Taymore (Ahmad), Rogers, AR; two sons, Jay (Brenda) Jones and Lee (Jeannie) Jones, Trail City.
Willa Kaye had twelve grandchildren: Kathy Schuler, Aaron Opp, Kara Hovland, Alexis Handsaker, Angie Ellison, Jesse Taymore, Dylan Jones, Rio Jones, Kaylee Abouelkheir, Carmen Johnson, Samuel Jones, and Chance Jones; 28 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild, Kadien Schuler, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Willa was preceded in death by her parents; two half-sisters and four half-brothers, and her husband, Laurie Jones.
(Jay Jones’ address is 26649 134th St., Trail City, SD 57657.)