Lois Arlene Jones

A long-term resident of College Park, Lois Jones was a respected community activist, minister, and humanitarian. A graduate of Shippensburg College and United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, who attended the March on Washington in 1963, she briefly taught elementary school before turning to ministry and the needs of her community. Prince George's County acknowledged her contributions over half a century by naming a day in October "Lois Jones Day." 

 

She founded Safe Haven, a homeless shelter that rotated between fifteen churches in Prince George's County during the winter months. In 1968 she co-founded Help By Phone, an on-demand food bank, serving both organizations as executive director for many years. She personally enforced the strict rules of no alcohol, drugs or firearms so that Safe Haven could operate every year with the exception of 2020. For Help by Phone, she consistently won FEMA grants to supply families in need with food and financial aid for medication. 

 

Born in Shermansdale, Pennsylvania to Della and Ted Jones in 1933, she never married and had no children, but was close to her sister, Nancy, brother-in-law Herman Zieger, nephew Richard Zieger, and her nieces Elaine Hayes and Susan Zieger, who survive her. She is also survived by five grand-nephews, Tim Hayes, Peter Hayes, Paul Hayes, William Zieger, and Thomas Zieger. Known for her can-do spirit and sense of humor, she will be dearly missed.