Service commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Jones-Williams will unfold at the Winnfield Memorial Funeral Home, 318 North Street, Natchitoches, LA 71457 Saturday, September 28, 2024 at 10:30 a. m.  The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority will perform the Ivy Beyond the Wall Ceremony at 9:30 a. m.  Interment will follow the funeral service.

Johnette Jones Williams was born on June 3, 1939, in Natchitoches, Louisiana to Bertrand
Robert Jones and Veatrice Baptiste Jones. Johnette was blessed to be the older sister of Betty
Jones Hooker (1941-2006) and Altonette Juanita Jackson (1950-).
Johnette was a proud member of Natchitoches Central High School, Class of 1957, she left
Natchitoches to attend college at Grambling State University, Class of 1961. It was while she
was attending Grambling that she joined the Alpha Theta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority, Inc. In In Phoenix, she was a member of the Delta Beta Omega chapter. Her
membership in the sorority was a constant in her life and spanned over 60 years.
She began her teaching career in Allen, Louisiana teaching high school social studies before
leaving to continue her education at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana with a MA in
Library Science. It was in Illinois that she met Andrew Williams, who she had remained married
to for 57 years.
Johnette received a PhD in Higher Education from Arizona State University. She was also a
recipient of a one- year Fellowship to the University of Denver, along with several education
leadership programs both at Bryn Mawr College and Harvard University. Her career in Higher
Education was mostly spent in the Maricopa Community College System, at Glendale
Community College where she worked for over 30 years. She was the Director of Library
Services for 15 years, and spent a few years as a professor and mentor in the teacher
education program.
Johnette loved her family and for a long time was the keeper of our history. Music (of any genre)
brought her hours of joy along with working in the garden. She loved visiting her daughter and
grandsons in Boston, braving the harsh winters just to be with them.
We will miss her smile and her laugh. We will miss the way she would sing a song even if she
did not know all the words. We will miss her love of a fire in the fireplace regardless of the
temperature outside. We Will Miss the Way She Loved Us.
Johnette is survived by her husband, Andrew Williams; daughter, Carvina Gary Williams;
Grandsons, Edward (Tripp) and Andrew (Drew) Hill; sister, Altonette Jackson; nieces, Alesia
Shealey (Gerald), Bettina Blocker, Jean Esther Owens, and Joanne Clinton; nephews, Bertrand
Hooker, Isaac Wells(Sonya), and San Juan Wells (Natifya). Johnette is also survived by many
other nephews and nieces in the next generation of family: Myles, Alton, Nico, Isaac, Keyera,
and SaMya. Johnette also leaves behind the extended family and a large circle of friends near
and far.
She was preceeded in death by her father, Bertrand R. Jones, mother; Veatrice Baptiste Prostel;
sister, Betty Jones Hooker, and son-in -law Edward Hill, Jr