Marianne M. (Morris) Jones

Marianne Morris Jones, a loving wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully Tues., May 26, 2026, in Lexington, Ma., after a long illness. Marianne was born Aug. 2, 1932, in Fort Worth, Tex. She was the beloved, younger daughter of William Dewitt Morris and Norma Adams Morris. She graduated as the valedictorian at her high school and was Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Texas at Austin in 1953.

While in Austin, Marianne met the love of her life, Robert Anderson Jones, when he hired her to write alumni publications for Austin College. “I fell in love with her resume first,” Bob liked to say, acknowledging how much he relied on Marianne’s keen intellect, organizational capabilities, and social skills to advance his career and their family. They married June 7, 1957, and soon became a family, with Steve arriving in 1958, Scott in 1959, and Lynne in 1962. They shared 54 years of marriage before Bob passed in 2011.

After their children entered college, Marianne began a second career as a CPA, taking the necessary accounting courses at Ohio Wesleyan University, with all A’s, and later passing the CPA exam on her first try, a feat only 10 percent of CPA exam-takers achieve. She worked first at a CPA firm in Delaware, Ohio, and later retired from a well-known, regional firm in Baltimore, Md.

Marianne was an accomplished gourmet cook and a gracious hostess and entertainer. She also was an avid reader and a master at crossword puzzles. Marianne and Bob loved to travel in retirement, going all over the world, including trips to China, Russia, and the Mediterranean. After Marianne’s retirement, she enjoyed volunteering at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and she helped to launch an investment club with friends. She held leadership roles in numerous women’s and civic organizations over the years, including chapters of the League of Women Voters and the University Women’s Club at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Marianne was predeceased by her parents, her sister, Norma Jean Day, and her husband. She leaves her children, Stephen Morris Jones (Rebecca Burcher) of Chesapeake, Va., and Scott Anderson Jones (Susan Marsh) and Lynne Jones Doblin (Rick), all of Belmont, Ma. She also leaves five grandchildren – Carrie and Milo Jones, and Eden (Phoebe), Lilah, and Ellie Doblin – and many nieces and nephews.

Marianne’s family is planning a memorial in Baltimore later in the summer, where her ashes will be joined in perpetuity in a columbarium next to her husband. Memorial gifts may be given to The Walters Art Museum or The Baltimore Museum of Art, both in Baltimore.

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