Marilyn Jean “Lynn” Miller (Stephens) Jones passed away peacefully on Nov. 15, 2015 at the age of 82. She was born November 25, 1932, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Edna Mae and William Albert Miller. Despite the Depression and the war, she had a very happy childhood with her family and a close network of friends from her Clifton neighborhood and the James Lees Church. These friends stay in touch to this day, though their numbers grow smaller with each year.
She was president of her senior class at Atherton High School for Girls, and attended Western Kentucky University with her high school sweetheart, Bill Stephens. She and Bill married, moved to Nashville and later settled in Huntsville. Along the way, they had three children: Dan, Steve-Anna and Jenny.
Lynn taught fourth grade at Huntsville’s Chaffee Elementary School for many years. All through her long life, she remembered so many of her students and their parents, and they remembered her. She loved teaching and she made many lifelong friends there.
In 1977, Lynn found love again and married Harvie P. Jones. She retired from teaching to focus on managing a household of nine, including stepchildren Anne, Steven, Martha and Evelyn.
Always a philanthropist, Lynn became involved in many organizations with missions near and dear to her heart, especially those devoted to historic preservation, gardening and pets. She played a significant role in supporting them through several noteworthy fundraisers. In 1989, Lynn proposed to Dale Rhoades that they undertake the creation of a Signature Quilt with each block being signed by a famous artist, politician, astronaut, or public figure of the day. The completed quilt was auctioned to retire the Historic Huntsville Foundation’s mortgage for the purchase and preservation of Harrison Brothers Hardware Store.
Another of Lynn’s ideas was Flights of Fancy, a fundraiser for the Huntsville Botanical Garden in 1995. She coerced local artists and architects to create birdhouses and birdhouse-themed works of art for auction. A Master Gardner, Lynn had a great passion for the Garden and took interest in several expansion projects, especially the Children’s Garden. She also orchestrated the first Dog Ball fundraiser for the Humane Society, a tradition still carried on annually.
Historic preservation was a passion Lynn and Harvie shared. She served in leadership roles for the Historic Huntsville Foundation including serving as chairman, board member, calendar committee member, newsletter editor, and associate Historic Huntsville Quarterly editor; she also worked with projects and annual membership events and was an active member of the clean-up-Harrison-Brothers committee. As long as she was physically able, she attended Huntsville Historic Commission meetings to express her strong opinions in support of maintaining the historic character of the local districts.
Lynn was preceded in death by her parents, her late husband Harvie and her faithful four-legged companions, Casey and Ginger, who brought her much joy.
She is survived by her brother, Bill Miller, of Geneva, Illinois, and all of her children: Dan (Lisa) Stephens of Batavia, IL; Steve-Anna Stephens of Tucson, AZ; Jenny Stephens of Bloomington, IN; Anne (Mark) Nieman of Tallassee, AL; Steven (Tammy) Jones of Union Grove, Al; Martha Jones of Huntsville; and Evelyn (Jim) Ferrero of Round Rock, TX; grandchildren Danielle (Hesham) Nouh, Nathan and Jonathon Stephens, Chelsea and Jacob Lofty, Juliet Willicott, and great-granddaughter Addison Hughes.
Lynn’s good friends, near and far, provided support these past few years as she worked through health issues. Her out-of-town children will be eternally grateful to all of the people who brought food, took her to appointments, picked up prescriptions, helped with household chores and cheered her with flowers, cards, calls and visits. The outpouring of love and support these last few years has been hard to comprehend but demonstrates how much she was loved by so many people.
Visitation and Services will be held at Church of the Nativity, 208 Eustis Ave, Huntsville, AL. Visitation will be at 1:30 PM and the service at 3:30 PM on Friday Nov. 20, 2015 with a private graveside service to follow.
In lieu of flowers and in honor of her philanthropic spirit, the family requests donations to: Huntsville Botanical Garden, 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35805, or on the web at www.hsvbg.org click on “Get Involved” then Donate; Historic Huntsville Foundation, 124 S. Side Square, Huntsville, AL 35801; Russel Hill Cancer Foundation, 3601 CCI Drive, Huntsville, AL 35805, or on the web at www.russelhill.org/donate
