Dorothy Cawood Jones

Dorothy Cawood (Jessee) Jones, 95, passed away on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at NHC Rehabilitation in Kingsport, Tennessee. Known as “Dottie” or “Dot” to her many friends and family, she was born on January 15, 1929, in Honaker, Russell County, Virginia, to Connally Trigg Jessee and Margaret Augusta (Pyle) Jessee, the eighth of ten children. Her father owned a garage in Honaker and sold cars, specifically Packard and Marmon automobiles. The family were comfortable until the depression of 1929, the year Dorothy was born, as her father refused to repossess the cars he was owed money on because he believed the families needed them. 

After family dinners at her Pyle grandparents' house, the men would go into the den to talk politics and the women would stay in the dining room. Of course, Dorothy wanted to be in there with the men talking politics, so that's where she usually was. She was permanently banned when she piped up and said she didn’t see why the opposing political party was so bad. She was the kid who paid attention, remembered everything and everyone, and knew the family history better than anyone else. 

 The family moved to Spring City in Russell County when her father became ill with cancer. She was, at age four, his constant companion until he passed away in 1934. The family later moved to Lebanon, Virginia, where the ten children pitched in to help keep the family going during the lean years. Dorothy graduated from Lebanon High School in 1946 where, much to her amazement, she was elected Homecoming Queen. She played piano for school events and participated in numerous clubs and school activities. She attended Marion College, where she played field hockey, and graduated in 1948. She often described her college years living with her sister Ruth and her husband Orman Parks as some of the happiest of her life.  

Dorothy came to Kingsport, Tennessee after graduation and became an executive secretary at Tennessee Eastman Company, working for William S. Vaughn, who later became CEO of Eastman Kodak, and Harry D. McNeely, President of Tennessee Eastman. She happened to run into a handsome gentleman at work one day, and that was that. Dorothy and William Francis (“Bill”) Jones (1915-1992) were married in Lebanon, Virginia, on April 29, 1950. 

Dorothy and Bill both worked at Eastman until she left the company to have her first child in 1960. She stayed home with her children until the youngest was in Junior High, and then went back to work as a Court Reporter, a job at which she excelled. After Bill retired in 1986, Dorothy continued to work as a Court Reporter until 1990. She retired to take care of Bill until his death in 1992. She later became a course guidebook editor for The Teaching Company, now known as The Great Courses. She loved playing the piano, reading, crossword puzzles, entertaining, and playing bridge, and seldom missed an episode of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Jeopardy,” or an issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. She also loved to watch old British television comedies and mysteries. 

Dorothy played bridge with Bill as her partner for many years, and continued to play after he died, becoming an American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) Gold Life Master. Her favorite tournament was always the Gatlinburg, Tennessee Regional, in which she competed for many years and where she loved to go with her bridge partners, especially her late friend Kitty Smith, and especially when they won. She and Kitty were well known for enthusiastic overpacking for any out-of-town bridge event they attended. Competitive bridge was a big part of Dorothy’s life, and she had many great partners over the years, including Virginia Wooten, Frances Stras, Barry Robertson, Gordon Spangler, and others. She continued to play until she was almost 90. 

She was also a proud member of the Virginia Club, immensely enjoyed our annual Jessee family reunions, and loved going on annual beach trips to Pawley’s Island, SC, with Bill’s sister Catherine Caughron, her husband Red, and their daughters Cindy and Deb. Later she enjoyed visiting Sunset Beach, NC with her children and her brother Harold and his wife Earnie. Her last trip to Sunset Beach was in 2021, and even though she could not walk on the beach, she loved relaxing on the porch, smelling the salt air, and watching and listening to the waves. She was a very creative person and had several publishing credits, including “The Sampler,” which won an East Tennessee regional library contest for best short story. 

 Her last major trip was to Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada with her children in July of 2022, to attend the dedication of a new memorial to a group of Royal Canadian Air Force pilots who died in a plane crash in Estevan in 1946, among whom was her brother, Flight Lieutenant James Pyle Jessee, DFC. She was interviewed several times and was featured on Canadian TV news coverage. In 1946, she had gone to the Governor General’s Residence in Ottawa for the posthumous presentation of the Distinguished Flying Cross to her brother James, and met the Governor General, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Traveling to Canada once again in 2022 gave closure to the unexpected loss of her beloved brother 76 years before. 

Dorothy was a strong and supportive wife, mother, sister, aunt, and friend to many. Even at 95, she never considered herself an old person, and she had many younger friends and relatives who were devoted to her, and she to them. She was very smart and had a lively sense of humor, occasionally quick to anger, stubborn as a mule, but faithful and loving to her family and friends. In her later years she was grateful to be at home with her children, her friends and relatives that came to visit, and just being able to do as she pleased. She lived by herself in her home until late January this year. 

Dorothy is survived by her son, James Harrington (“Jim”) Jones and wife, Rosalie Tapia, and her daughter, Eleanor Cawood Jones and partner, Larry Cox; her sister, Louise Jessee Morris of Orlando, Florida; and many cherished cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her brothers Robert, Ralph, James, Harold, Lawrence, and Lowell Jessee, and her sisters Ruth Jessee Parks and Anna Jessee McIntyre. She is also survived by long-time friends Celia Bachelder, Serena Cantley, and Frances Stras; a special niece, Susan (Parks) Bonham; and her special nephews, John Jessee and Lawrence Jessee. 

Visitation will be held on Monday, July 15, 2024, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Hamlett-Dobson Funeral Home, 117 E. Charlemont. The funeral service, a celebration of Dorothy’s life, will be held in the main sanctuary at First Baptist Church of Kingsport, Church Circle, where she was a member for 76 years, at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, with a short graveside service to follow at Oak Hill Cemetery. Those who would like to go to the graveside service should note the likelihood of hot, humid weather. Friends and family are welcome to drop by the house after the services. 

Pallbearers and honorary pallbearers will be her nephews Robert Trigg Jessee, Jr., John Jessee, James Jessee, Lowell L. Jessee, Jr., Lawrence C. Jessee, Jr., Larry F. (Fieldsie) Parks, and her nieces’ husbands, Michael Follo (Deb Caughron) and James B. (Bo) Bonham III (Susan Parks Bonham). 

Special thanks for all the love and care given to Dorothy by the staff of NHC Kingsport, by her companions Betty DeBord, Donna Hyatt, and Janie McCarty, and First Baptist Church Pastor Marvin Cameron. And our gratitude to Amber, Megan, and Diamond from Amedisys Hospice. 

In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made in memory of Dorothy Jones to the Kingsport Public Library, Friends of Allandale, or a charity of your choice.