1931 – Tacoma Suffered a Distinct Loss – The Passing of Mrs. Franke Tobey Jones
“A citizen outstanding for her services to the city as having rendered distinguished service to the community and set an example of citizenship which if followed by others, would make Tacoma a better place.” That is what the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce said of Mrs. Franke Tobey Jones in paying honor to one of Tacoma’s most useful citizens, outstanding in community service.”
“Mrs. Jones was clearly entitled to all the honors the commercial organization could pay her, and because of her generosity, her devotion to the good of humanity and her civic pride, she had placed herself among those who had gained the respect, the affection and the admiration of the entire community.”
“At the age of 86 years, Mrs. Jones peacefully ended a long and useful career and has gone to her reward – the reward that awaits those who have faithfully served mankind and who have always lived and acted in harmony with the beautiful beliefs that underlie what we term Christianity. To her the wealth that came to her was but a means for doing something for her fellows – for service to her community.”
“The widow of Charles H. Jones, a pioneer Tacoma lumberman, she had identified herself with the cause of education and it was due to her munificence that the College of Puget Sound received the beautiful building standing upon its campus, called Jones Hall, in memory of the husband who had preceded her to the beyond.”
“While she herself was beyond fear of want and lack of protection in her old age, she still had thoughts for others less favorably placed, and out of her comprehension of the tragedy of friendless old age, she gave of her store to found the Franke Tobye Jones Home for the aged located in the northern part of the city near Tacoma’s beautiful park, Point Defiance.
Tacoma has suffered a distinct loss through the passing of this devoted woman, and her memory will long be enshrined in the hearts as it is kept fresh in the minds of Tacoma people.”
Franke left an estate of $924,250 and no provision was made in her will for further bequest for the Franke Tobey Jones Home or to the University of Puget Sound. Some of the benefactors of her estate were YMCAs in Hoquiam and Tacoma, Salvation Army Tacoma, Volunteers of America Tacoma, Children’s Day Nursery Tacoma, Childrens Industrial Home Tacoma, and several churches in Tacoma, Michigan and New York. The family Home at North 5th and D Streets together with its furnishings and all personal effects was left to Mrs. Jones sister.
