Joan Woolard Jones

Joan Woolard Jones, of Providence Forge, Virginia, passed away on April 12, 2020, after a long and heroic battle with cancer.

She was born in 1956 and graduated from Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in music from East Carolina University in 1978 and then received her Masters of Science in Educational Counseling from Old Dominion University in 1985.

Joan was a longtime band director in the Porstmouth, Currituck, and Chesapeake Public School systems, ending her career at Oscar Smith Middle School. She was also a veteran flight instructor with nearly 12,000 hours of flights logged. She especially enjoyed teaching pilots how to fly sea planes.

Joan enjoyed exploring Alaska, having restored her Uncle Tim Woolard’s cabin in Manley Hot Springs. She spent memorable times there visiting friends and wolfing down fresh King Salmon. Joan was a longtime member of St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg and was on the board of the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble.

Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Lula Boyd Woolard, of Hampton.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Raymond Jones; their children, Timothy Jones of Herndon, Virginia, and Aubreigh Jones of Harrellsville, North Carolina; a brother, Joseph Woolard (Deonna); a sister, Elaine Ramsey (Barry); sister-in-law, Debra Jones Voso (Guy); nephews, Kevin Woolard, Ryan Ramsey, and Bobbie Voso; dear friends, L.T. Holloman, Ray and Suzanne Dezern, and John, Ila Ann and Little John Cannon (who always lit candles for Joan), Billy and Carolyn Gillam, Claudette Odom, and her many friends at St. Bede’s.

The family would like to thank her physician, Dr. Charles Lisner, her nephrologist, Dr. Thomas Whelan, and her oncologist, Dr. Michael McCollum, for her long-term medical care.

A memorial mass will be held at a later date. Memorial donations can be made to the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble, P.O. Box 6633, Yorktown, VA 23690, or to WHRO 1480 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185.