Frances Jones Cleveland

Published 7:43 pm Monday, September 15, 2014

Frances Jones Cleveland, born March 12, 1925, a native of Nansemond County (Driver), was the daughter of the late Margaret Wilson Heflin Jones and Roy Jones of Driver.

She is survived by her daughters, Dr. Margaret Cleveland Merrick and her husband, Dr. H. Curtiss Merrick, of Beaufort, N.C., and Patricia Cleveland Rountree, of Suffolk; her grandchildren, Mark J. Merrick, Rebecca Merrick Gilbird and Kevin W. Rountree; two step-grandchildren, Cheri Rountree Brown and Andrew B. Rountree, and a brother, William Wellington Jones.

She attended Madison College and was a graduate of Kee Business College. In her early career, Mrs. Cleveland opened and managed a shipping office in Tampa, Fla., for Vernon E. Ramsey Brokerage Company for 10 years before returning to her home in Driver to raise her family.

Mrs. Cleveland retired from the city of Suffolk in 1987 as administrative assistant, having served under five city managers for the merged County of Nansemond and the City of Suffolk. Since her retirement, she has remained active in various civic causes and affairs of the city.

She was a member of the Jamestowne Society, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; former member and Sunday School teacher at Glebe Episcopal Church; a former member of the Suffolk Literacy Council, Suffolk Bicentennial Commission, Suffolk Board of Emergency Services and Suffolk Beautification Commission.

Special thanks are extended to Jeanette Holland and Gloria Perry, and to Mrs. Cleveland’s devoted caregivers, Tracey Walloe, Tiffany Jones, Allison Copeland and Janice Copeland.

A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 213 N. Main St., Suffolk, by the Rev. Keith Emerson. Burial will be private. R.W. Baker & Co. Funeral Home and Crematory, 509 W. Washington St., Suffolk, is serving the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Bethesda Caring Center (Matthew 25), 3510 John Platt Drive, Morehead City, NC 28557 — this is a charity for uninsured children requiring health care services — or to the Salvation Army of Suffolk, 400 Bank St., Suffolk, VA 23434. Condolences may be registered at www.rwbakerfh.com.