Peggy Jones

Peggy Jones, 77, of Hardinville, IL, passed away on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at the Gibson Family Hospice Center in Terre Haute, IN.

She was born on May 30, 1948, in Michigan City, IN., to Frederick and Dolores (Walters) Walters. Peggy grew up in Griffith, IN, where much of her early life was shaped by the close bond she shared with her father. He was a World War II veteran, and Peggy was always proud of his service. She went everywhere with him, worked beside him in the garage, and learned early the value of loyalty, hard work, and caring for the people you love.

Peggy graduated from Griffith High School in 1966 and went on to attend Moser Secretarial School. That training led her to work as a secretary for Kimberly-Clark in Chicago, but the most important part of that season had nothing to do with an office. Peggy met Eugene “Gene” Jones at a carhop, where he noticed the pinstripes on her car. They would both come to say it was love at first sight. Six months later, on March 30, 1968, they were married, and Peggy would have told you that her true life began the day she became Gene’s wife.

That life with Gene took her to Florida in the early 1970s, where they worked hard to provide for their family. Then, in 1978, they moved to Hardinville, and Peggy liked to say that Gene took a city girl and turned her country. She didn’t just adjust to country life. She came to love it. She loved canning who she learned from Gene's mother, gardening, making homemade cinnamon rolls, picking blueberries and she loved the quiet peace of home. She loved hummingbirds too, and during hummingbird season, she went through pounds of sugar keeping them fed.

The home Peggy and Gene built was full of work, laughter, and love. In her spare time Peggy loved to crochet, embroider, fish, mow with Gene and care for her animals. She has loved many animals in her lifetime, including her black Labs and Lucky, the black and white cat who let itself inside and never left. She loved to sing, laugh, joke, and dance through the house with her girls. More than anything, she and Gene shared a deep and steady love, and together they taught their children how to work together as a family, how to get things done, and how to carry good values into the world.

Peggy carried those values into every place she served. She spent a short time at Oblong Elementary before going on to work at Crawford Memorial Hospital, where her cooking and baking became something people looked forward to. Doctors would come in the morning and ask what she had made for them that day, whether it was brownies, muffins, cake, or something else from the kitchen. Even when she came home exhausted, Peggy still found the strength to make dinner for her family and the energy to go to her girls ballgames.

That kind of devotion showed up again and again. Peggy helped care for her and Gene’s parents, making meals, planning medication schedules, taking them to appointments, cleaning their homes, and doing whatever needed to be done. After retirement, she and Gene enjoyed traveling to places like Colorado, Gettysburg, Mount Rushmore and Lake Erie to go fishing. Peggy had a true appreciation for the beauty of nature, especially the sky, and she had a way of noticing small reminders of God’s goodness all around her.

Peggy loved the Lord with all her heart, and that love shaped the way she lived. It was there in the early mornings when her girls would find her in the recliner with the light on, reading her Bible. It was there after Gene passed, when she kept reading with his picture in her lap. It was there in the sweet notes she wrote, in the crosses she noticed in ordinary places, and in the words she often used to sign her cards: “To God be the glory.” That phrase was more than a signature. It was the truth Peggy tried to live by, and the hope her family carries now.

Peggy is survived by her daughters & sons-in-law, Valerie & Dale Beck and Janet & Jerry Ramsey; by her grandchildren, Alayna, Buck, and Parker; by her brother-in-law & sister-in-law, Carl & Sue Jones; by her sister-in-law, Marcia Jones; by her long-time friend Eva Heidrich; as well as several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Gene Jones, as well as her parents, Frederick and Dolores Walters.

A time of visitation will be held from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 11th, at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 12th, at the funeral home, with Celebrant Curt Goodwine officiating. For those unable to attend, a live stream of the service will be available at https://www.goodwinefuneralhomes.com/live-stream/live-stream.Burial will follow in the Hardinville Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to Hebron Road Church of Christ or Oblong Children's Christian Home.