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Juanita T. “Nita” Jones, age 87, a resident of Washington, NC, passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 16, 2023.  A celebration of her life will be held at her long-time church home on Thursday, December 21, at Second Baptist Church in Washington, 2:00 pm.  Burial will follow at Oakdale Cemetery. The family will receive friends at 1:00 pm prior to the service on Thursday at Second Baptist Church.

Nita was born in Grenada, Mississippi, on July 10, 1936, but lived and attended school in Chicago, Illinois.  She married the love of her life, J. R. Jones, a Washington native, in 1954 and moved to Washington soon thereafter.  She held several positions with local businesses serving as a bookkeeper, but most of her career was spent in the Payroll Department at Hamilton Beach where she was known as “Miss Nita.”  After retirement, she was a resident of The Willows where she served on the board of the Property Owners Association and acted as Treasurer.  She was also a board member and volunteer at Eagle’s Wings in Washington for many years.

She was a faithful and long-time member of Second Baptist Church where she served for 40 years as Church Treasurer.  She also served as Director of Training Union and Vacation Bible School.  She taught Sunday School and led the Second Baptist Youth for many years.  She was a member of the Church Choir and the Washington Choral Society. She served as State and National President of the Rural Letter Carriers Auxiliary and traveled to every State in the Union.

She was deeply loved by her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and had many life-long friends in Washington and in the many places she visited. She was preceded in death by her parents, Joe and Nellie Taylor, her beloved husband J.R. who died in 1998 and her son Edgar who was a senior at East Carolina University. Nita had seven siblings including her deceased brothers Houston Taylor (Estelle) of Grenada, Mississippi, J.R. Taylor of Washington (Evelyn), Coleman Taylor of Warsaw, Indiana, Homer Taylor (Kathleen) of Southhaven, Mississippi, Gwin Taylor of Washington and her sister Mildred Bermudez (Ray) of Chicago, Illinois.  She was also preceded in death by brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law from the Washington area, including Adelaide Bailey (Paul), Julia Harding (Berble), Lena Garris (Adrian), Evelyn Taylor Watkins (J.R.), Margaret Bullock (Sam), Plummer Jones (Maggie), Arie Jones and William Edgar “Buddy” Jones, Jr.  She was “Aunt Nita” to 37 nieces and nephews and more than a dozen grand nieces and nephews.

She is survived by her sister Mary Taylor Smith and husband Sherwood of Memphis, Tennessee, and her children Julia Hicks (Mike) of Washington, Ron Jones (Lisa) of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, Greg Jones (Amy) of Norwood, North Carolina, and four grandchildren, Matthew Jones, Ellen Caldwell (Zach), Emily Jones and Grayson Jones who all lovingly called her “Granny.”

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Second Baptist Church or Eagle’s Wings.

Condolences may be addressed to the family on-line by visiting www.paulfuneralhome.com.

Paul Funeral Home & Crematory of Washington is honored to serve the Jones family.