Dorothy (Alice) Mcconkey Jones

Dorothy (Alice) McConkey Jones of Tucker, GA, passed away peacefully on Thursday, June 14, 2018. She was 83 years old.

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 at Embry Hills United Methodist Church in Chamblee, Ga. at 1pm, followed by a light reception at the church. In addition, the family will receive visitors the evening prior, Tuesday, June 19, 2018, from 6pm to 8pm at AS Turner & Sons funeral home in Decatur, Ga. Refreshments will be served.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her name to Meals on Wheels would be preferred. Her husband of 43 years, James A. Jones, Jr., predeceased her in March 2017.

She is survived by her children, Evan G. Jones, married to Cyndie S. Jones, Jason N. Poulos, married to Donna B. Poulos, and Brett P. Ford, married to Dustin E. Ford; her three grandchildren: Bryce Jones, and Nicholas and Alyssa Poulos; and her sibling, Roma Fox. She is preceded in death by her mother, Ammel Loughead, and her two siblings Roylan Sweat and Iva (Skippy) Gile.

Dorothy Alice McConkey was born May 21, 1935 in Union City, MO to Frank McConkey and Ammel Loughead. After spending her early years in Missouri and in Iowa, she moved with her divorced mother to Covington, GA in 1948 at the age of 13 and attended and graduated from Newton County High School in 1953.

Dorothy then went on to attend the University of Georgia and graduated with a degree in Drama in 1958. During her college years, she acted and starred in many productions in the University theater, including Macbeth (as Lady Macbeth), and Romeo and Juliet (as Juliet).
After college, Dorothy went to work for Trust Company Bank of Georgia, where she spent her entire professional career, retiring from SunTrust Bank as a VP of Human Resources in 1995. More significantly, however, inasmuch as the theater always played a profound role in her life, she continued throughout her working life (and beyond) performing in myriad productions with local theater groups including Theater Atlanta and Callanwolde Theater. Among those were stellar performances in Stevie, Sylvia, Mothers and Sons, Moon Over Buffalo, and Kindertransport.

She was named Best Actress in Atlanta in 1962 for her role as Hedda Gabler in the eponymous play.

Dorothy’s other two loves in life were her church and her family. As to the former, she and the Jones family joined as members of Embry Hills UMC after her second and final marriage to her late husband, in 1974, and she adored the church and its lovely group of members throughout her life. She was fond of lay reading of scripture in the Sunday morning services, and the church members were fond of her doing so.

As to her grandchildren, Bryce, Nick, and Alyssa, all that need be said is that she (and Dad) loved them to the breadth of her heart, doted on them without bound, and provided a nurturing environment for them to spend much of their formative years. Grandparents’ Day at school was always considered on the order of Christmas in her mind.

Dorothy was known for her energetic gregariousness and simple love of human spirit and interaction. A patent extrovert, it was not difficult to know her views on any subject at any time, and that, accompanied by a first-rate intellect, made any who had the pleasure to know her the richer for it, and the world is, thus, the poorer for its loss of such a wonderful woman.

Her family and friends wish her Godspeed and that she and Dad can now walk together again for eternity. We know she is watching and protecting us forever more.