Barbara jones

Barbara Jean Jones 10.10.1032 – 12.28.2025 Barbara Jean Jones, 93, died on December 28, 2025, at Kansas Christian Home in Newton, Kansas. She was born on October 10, 1932, to A. E. (Earl) Jones and Helen Edith (Phillips) Jones in Hutchinson, Kansas. Barbara’s early years were happily spent on the family farm while she attended Mitchell Grade School. She went on to graduate from Hutchinson High School and Southern Nazarene University. She was an educator. Her college degree was in education, and she put it to use for the rest of her life. Elementary education was her professional passion with more than forty-five years of teaching second grade, primarily at Cooper Elementary School in Newton, Kansas. Her love for those students was evident when she laughingly told stories about their antics and the joy she felt when tough concepts were grasped. But she continued teaching, even outside the traditional classroom. Barb has told how over time she worked in every Sunday School department in the First Church of the Nazarene, Newton, Ks, except the nursery. Additionally, in the early 1960s, she and her sister Karen began sponsoring the teen group. With the emphasis the sisters placed on telling the good news of the gospel to others, it is not surprising that from that group of teens came ministers, missionaries, a district superintendent, and a whole group of people who believed in lay ministry. Barbara’s positive, joy-filled life influenced many, many people. She is preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Leonard Earl Jones and Dr. Richard (Helen Marie) Jones and her sisters Helen Louise (Arlo) Newell and Karen Jones.

Funeral Service will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, January 3, 2026, at First Church of the Nazarene with Pastor Paul Schellenberger officiating. Private interment will be in the Memorial Park Cemetery in Hutchinson, Kansas next to her beloved family.

Visitation will be 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday January 2, 2026 at Petersen Funeral Home with Barbara’s Close Friends and Family receiving friends from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Memorials may be made to First Church of the Nazarene and left with Petersen Funeral Home.