Mrs. Lena Jones, 87, of Vancouver, WA, formerly of Pierre, SD went to be with her Lord and Savior on May 18, 2024. She was laid to rest next to her husband Norman at Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, SD.
Lena T. Jones (she was never given a middle name, so took her maiden name as her middle name) was born in Everson, WA on July 12, 1936 to Peter and Anna (Oordt) Tjoelker. Peter was an immigrant from the Friesland region of the Netherlands. Lena was the middle of nine siblings and often remarked, “the middle child is the least spoiled.” Her father operated a dairy farm; and while the boys helped milk the cows twice daily, the girls all helped out with household chores. Lena had the job of dusting and cleaning while another sister helped out in the kitchen; consequently she always felt she was lacking in her culinary skills! During the summers from the time she was eight years old she worked in the fields with other local children picking strawberries, raspberries, and green beans.
Lena was the first child in her family to attend high school. She loved learning new things and even to the end of her life was interested in all sorts of subjects, among which were her Dutch and Huguenot roots. In fact, Lena wrote a book review for the January 1996 Reformed Herald on two books about the Huguenots. After high school Lena attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, met Norman Jones, and 2½ years later (in 1957) they were married. While Norm attended Seattle Pacific College, Lena worked at Boeing Flight Center. In 1958 they hooked up their 8 x 35 ft. trailer home and traveled to Philadelphia, PA for Norm to attend Westminster Theological Seminary. While there, Lena worked at Farm Journal Magazine whose offices were a block from the Liberty Bell.
After graduating from seminary in 1961, Norm pastored several churches in the RCUS, serving the German Russians in the Odessa Charge (Artas-Herreid, SD) for 5 years; Hope Reformed (Sutton, NE) for 8½ years; and finally Hope Reformed (Pierres SD) for the remaining years of his pastorate. For a girl born and raised in the Pacific Northwest among Dutch Reformed CRC folk it had to be a culture shock to move to the Dakotas where it is dry, dusty, and mainly German. But Lena adjusted well and learned to love the sunny days and the people. She was hospitable and whenever there were visitors in church she made sure they had a place to go for lunch and usually had lunch guests around her table.
During their time in Sutton, Norman felt the need for a workbook on the Heidelberg Catechism in order to better teach his Confirmation classes and so wrote his Study Helps On The Heidelberg Catechism. This book has been used widely in the RCUS in America and has been used in other Reformed bodies in other countries.
Lena, who got a C in typing in high school, typed up the first rough drafts of the Workbook and told her daughter Anne that she ended up typing it two-and-a-half times on stencils, which Norm mimeographed and ran off. She definitely improved her typing from high school! Then there were “collating parties” in the basement of Hope Reformed Church, and we spent hours putting together the first copies.
Lena enjoyed sewing, needle crafts, gardening (she loved tulips and the Acanthus plant), canning, and occasional travel. Her children remember that while in Sutton, she and Norm purchased a Magic Mill grain grinder and then got wheat, corn and rye from the local farmers. She ground her own flour, then baked loaves of WW bread and sold them to the neighbors.
When Norm took the call to Pierre, Lena worked for many years as a secretary for the state legislature when it was in session. Once again, her office experience and skills came in handy. She and Norman were instrumental in getting the South Dakota Right to Life started, and they worked diligently to promote this group in the state.
The last 17 years of her life were spent in Vancouver, WA under the care of her daughter Marge. In Vancouver she enjoyed the teaching and fellowship at Westminster PCA and All Saints Church, and the Senior Bible Study at Liberty Bible Church.
Lena loved the Lord. The defining feature of her life was her devotion to Jesus Christ. She knew her Bible, chapter and verse, and taught many Sunday School and Vacation Bible School classes. All types of missionary outreach interested her and she especially prayed for, and donated to, the Wycliffe Bible translators, as well as many other organizations. She was a faithful pastor’s wife, loving mother and a hard worker. Lena had many health issues towards the end of her life, which made her long for her glorified body. She was most eager to see her best friend, Jesus, and seemed to know her time was at hand the last few weeks of her life. Her faith was strong even at the end and she knew, as the Heidelberg Catechism says in Question 42, that her death was “only a dying to sin and an entering into eternal life.” She loved music, especially the great hymns of the faith. In planning her funeral she requested a hymn sing and specific music to be sung at the service.
Many men are called to the ministry, but all of us are called to serve the Lord in whatever capacity he assigns for us. Lena served the Lord her entire life, simply by being faithful to her calling as a wife and mother, and doing the little things that showed her love for the people of the churches she was serving. We can learn from the saints who have gone before us how to walk in this life and we can learn from Lena’s example of how she served her Lord. She will be missed but we know we will see her again!
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”
Mrs. Anne (Jones) Savage
Providence Reformed Church of Limon, CO