August 8, 1927 – January 26, 2026
Jean Girton Jones, age 98 of Winchester, passed away on Monday, January 26, 2026, at Bailey Manor. She was born August 8, 1927, in a small house in Winchester, Tennessee, off of South High Street to the late Roscoe Girton and Effie Gattis Girton.
Before her death, Jean’s children encouraged her to write her life story. It is as follows…
I never met my grandfather or grandmother on my dad’s side as they passed away before my father and mother married. Their home still stands on Lee Street in Winchester. My father’s mother was sick for several years and my grandfather traveled a lot on business. To take care of his wife he hired a lady that lived with them to take care of the household and his wife along with my father’s four brothers and a sister. When my father’s mother died my grandfather married the lady employed to take care of the family. And they had four boys and a girl. My father said they were all really close and grew up in a loving home. After a period, they moved to Winchester, Tennessee, from the state of Illinois.
My mother’s parents were Robert (Bob) Gattis and Polly Brown Gattis. They lived on a farm off the Lynchburg Highway in the Broadview Community. The two-story house still stands, has been remodeled, and is located on the left side of the road. The farm is located down the road from the old Broadview Grocery Store. I would visit for a week at a time every summer. As farmers they had pigs, cows, and chickens. They sold milk and cream from the cows in addition to other farm products. My grandmother would buy crackers and King Leo Peppermint candy sticks for me from a man in a traveling grocery truck. And She would let me sell him fresh eggs. I slept upstairs with the other children at home while visiting. When the lights were put out, I would cry to go downstairs to sleep with my grandparents. My grandmother would meet me at the bottom of the steps with an oil lamp, and I would join them in their bed. I loved both of them very much. They would let me help with chores including using the churn to make butter. I also attempted to help with the milking but after turning over a bucket of milk that was the end of participating in that chore. My grandfather would place hay in the bed of the horse drawn wagon, and we would all sit in the back on the way to Church. They also had an old pump organ at the house and my grandmother would play. We would have several neighbors over to sing along with fresh baked cookies and cake washed down with fresh spring water.
I was an only child for the first twelve years of my life with a stay-home mother before my only sibling, a sister, was born. My father was a self-employed carpenter by trade. He made furniture, constructed wood framing for buildings, helped with remodeling jobs, and installed roofing. He stayed very busy providing for our family. I remember him building me doll furniture as well as other furniture. He is remembered for having the reputation of being one of the best roof carpenters in Winchester. I received very much attention from my father when he was not working. The result of attention from my father and mother contributed to me being ahead of many children my age. After completing first grade, the teacher suggested I skip second grade and enter third grade. However, I wished to remain with my friends I had made and not skip second grade.
My Mother was the oldest of eleven children and helped raise her siblings. My mother’s sister next to her in age died when she was twenty-four years of age. She left a three-year-old daughter and a seven-month-old son. The newborn baby boy was cared for by the father’s family. However, the little girl lived with us for a while until she moved in with my grandparents on their farm and attended school in Owl Hollow. She would spend summers with us and being two years older became like an older sister to me.
I attended Mary Sharp Elementary School which was located where the Board Of Education is now located at 215 S College St, Winchester, Tennessee. Gordon Sanders was the principal. I worked in the office during my 7th and 8th grade school years. I then attended four years at Central High School located where Clark Memorial Elementary School now stands. I arranged my classes in order to have my study hall the last period each day so I could leave at 2 O’clock for work at The Copeland Brothers Produce House in Winchester on North High Street. They bought and sold eggs, chickens, hogs, livestock feed, and hides. I operated the cash register and helped keep books. I worked each day till 6PM. Later they built a grocery store and was employed there working after school each day and on Saturdays.
While attending High School I took typing and shorthand. I was in the “A” Club all four years, Glee Club, and belonged to the Rainbow Girls. My last year of High School I went to Nashville, Tennessee, with Mrs. Robert Rowell, my commercial teacher, and three other students to submit an application to The National Life & Accident Insurance Company. While there we also went to the Federal Building and took a Civil Service Test. We were tested for our typing and shorthand skills. One interesting requirement for the job was to be female and single. Two of us girls got jobs. One of my best friends throughout school, Lois Ray Holland, was the other girl that got the job. I was so impressed with the beautiful offices. And it was so exciting to work in the most modern and highest office building in Nashville. Also in the building was the radio station WSM. Taking its callsign from the company’s motto, We Shield Millions (which was in turn taken from its shield-shaped logo), the station became a 50,000-watt Clear channel station (clear channel meaning no other station could broadcast on that frequency). Its studios were initially in the National Life office building in downtown Nashville at Seventh and Union Streets. Management began the program that was soon to become the Grand Ole Opry, which made country music (then generally referred to as “hillbilly music”) more mainstream than it had been previously. Excited to be surrounded by all this was an understatement.
I worked in what was called the Colored Claims Department. My job consisted of making changes in beneficiaries of life insurance policies. The only drawback to employment at the National Life & Accident Insurance Company was the job didn’t pay that much to live comfortably in downtown Nashville. Lois and I lived at the Maxwell House Hotel for two weeks until we found an apartment. We would ride the city bus after work each day looking for an apartment. We found accommodations at the McDowell’s which was two stone houses located at 1918 West End Avenue near Vanderbilt University. Women lived in one and men the other. We had one bedroom and a shared bathroom. Breakfast was served each morning at 7AM. We couldn’t take advantage of breakfast as we had to catch a bus for downtown each morning for work. We would eat breakfast at Krystal each morning consisting of a piece of toast and orange juice. For lunch we would go to Walgreen’s and get a plate lunch of a meat two vegetables for 59 cents. We ate at the apartment each evening as a large family meal was served. Often times I would call home for money to finish out the month till I was paid. Our monthly rent was $70.00. While working at the National Life & Accident Insurance Company I received my Civil Service Rating. Which resulted in the next phase of my working career. I lived and worked in Nashville, Tennessee, for six long months and was ready to return closer to home being just a little homesick. To have the opportunity directly out of high school to work in Nashville, a large city and capital of Tennessee, was an experience I would never forget.
Due to the successful score of the Civil Service Test, I was offered a job as a secretary at Camp Forrest in Tullahoma, Tennessee, and moved back home. It was one of the largest U.S. Army training bases during World War II. The camp served as a training facility for eleven infantry divisions, two battalions of Rangers, numerous medical and supply units, and a number of Army Air Corps personnel. In addition, the camp provided logistical support for the massive Tennessee Maneuvers conducted at intervals from 1941 through early 1945. The camp also employed thousands of civilians in various support roles and housed German prisoners of war. It also served as a hospital center and temporary encampment area for troops during maneuvers. Major General George Patton brought his 2nd Armored Division from Fort Benning, Georgia for maneuvers. My job specifically involved the repatriating of German prisoner’s paperwork to return home. While here the German prisoners worked on surrounding farms. Their jobs included picking-up potatoes and picking peanuts. I also typed payroll checks. We worked in a guarded secure area that we were taken to by bus. We had to park our vehicles in a parking lot at the gate.
I met my future husband, Clarence E Jones from Marion, Indiana, at Camp Forrest. He was being trained for oversees deployment. He served under General George Patton’s 80th Artillery Division landing on Utah Beach. He participated in the following battles and campaigns: Northern France, Battle Of Argenton (Falise Gap), Battle Of Mont St Jean, Ardennes, Rhineland, Luxembourg, and Central Europe. He received the European Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, and Four Bronze Stars. After his twenty-three months of Service he returned and we married. I resigned my job at Camp Forrest.
After marriage I accepted a job as secretary at the Vaughan Hardware Store in Winchester working at their seed warehouse near the railroad. I was paid $16.00 per week. This job lasted for a year until a better position came available. After working at Vaughan Hardware Store, I was offered the position as Personnel Secretary at General Shoe in Cowan, Tennessee, making $23.00 per week. I worked there for ten years until we began our family.
My Father being a carpenter along with my husband built our house located at 405 Girton Street behind my parents’ house and near my Grandparents house. We lived there for five years before moving to a new house located at 104 Spring Hill Drive. We raised our family and lived there for 31 years. My Mother, Effie Girton, retired from her job as a seamstress and moved in with us enjoying helping raise our two boys. I returned to work at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) as secretary in Purchasing and worked there for twenty-one years. I took early retirement to return home to care for my mother and she passed away seven months after I retired. I soon had to have open heart surgery and did not work for four years.
I returned to the workforce as secretary at the Winchester Church of Christ and worked there for twelve years. After my husband retired we once again moved to a new house on Tims Ford Lake in Winchester Village in Winchester. Afterwards we traveled for several years and visited all but a few States. We certainly have been blessed with grandchildren and great grandchildren and have had a wonderful life. My husband passed away in 2005 after 59 years of marriage. But I continue to lead a very active life enjoying my family. I am a compulsive walker, walking three to four times a week, two to four miles either outside weather permitting or at Church. This has continued to help avoid more heart problems and keeps me mobile. I keep myself busy with Church, volunteer at the American Red Cross with the blood mobile, belong to several organizations, host bridge games, play Rook, travel as often as I can, and visit with friends & neighbors. My advice to others and which I often share is, “I would rather wear out, then rust out.”
I moved to Franklin Manor in October 2024, after living in my own home for 97years. Then in December 2025, I moved to Bailey Manor. Of course, it’s not home but I have been very fortunate to live as long as I have independently to be honest. I do now need help with day-to-day activities. I say many times that I do not understand why God has blessed me with this long life but am so thankful I can do the things I do.
In addition to her parents, Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Clarence E. Jones. She is survived by her loving sons, Larry E. (Mary) Jones and Barry (Lita) Jones; grandchildren, Emily (Michael) McKay, Miranda (Justin) DeFluiter, Jessica (Ben) Fultz, Melanie (Rodney) Darden, and Jon Willison; six great-grandchildren; siblings, Elizabeth (Fred) Judge; nephews, Steve Judge and Mark Judge; and niece, Nicole Judge.
Visitation will be from 12-2pm on Friday, January 30, 2026, at Moore-Cortner Funeral Home. A funeral service will follow at 2:00 pm in the Chapel of Moore-Cortner Funeral Home with Bro. Joseph Horton officiating. Interment will be at Winchester Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Winchester Christian Academy.
Moore-Cortner Funeral Home, 300 First Ave NW, Winchester, TN 37398, (931)-967-2222, www.moorecortner.com.
