Sara Jones, Strong-Spirited Mother Of Quincy Jones

Sara Wells Jones, the mother of music legend Quincy Jones and founder of the Seattle Religious Art Society, ran her life by her Christian values, says her family.

She attended church often, read the Bible daily and formed deep opinions about social issues. Moreover, she shared those views freely with loved ones, politicians, religious leaders and newspapers.

"She had a sense of humor, she could laugh, but she was just a very religious person," said her granddaughter Jolie Jones of Los Angeles. "I wouldn't say she was quiet. She had some very strong opinions and she expressed them."

Mrs. Jones, of Seattle, died of a stroke last Friday (Jan. 22). She was 94.

A native of Vicksburg, Miss., she was one of 10 children born to Mary Bell and Love Adam Wells, a sharecropper who moved his family to St. Louis in 1927.

Mrs. Jones attended the Boston University College of Practical Arts and Sciences. In the early 1930s she moved to Chicago and became a founding board member of the black-owned Federal Savings and Loan.

She also managed Rosenwald Housing Complex, a 433-unit facility with a nursery school and social programs on Chicago's South Side.

She met carpenter Quincy Jones Sr. and the two were married. Her children included Quincy Jr. and Lloyd. Quincy Jones Jr. became a Grammy-winning musician and produced top-selling recordings such as "We Are the World" and Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Lloyd Jones, who died last year, became a Seattle broadcast engineer.

"She played the piano a little, and she sewed clothes for all of us," said her granddaughter. "But what her sons got from her the most was strength of spirit. She had a very strong spirit."

After Mrs. Jones moved to the Seattle area in 1943, she became involved in church and education programs. She would later divorce her husband.

In the 1970s she founded the Seattle Religious Art Society, which until this past year sponsored concerts and educational opportunities for young people.

"It was basically music, but she supported all the arts, and she was the leader of the whole thing," said a society colleague, Larry Metcalf. "They would award scholarships. It was very informal. It was out of her love for music and the arts, and she always felt more should be done with the religious connection."

She spoke several languages, and also was a master typist known for her letters to senators and religious leaders. Mrs. Jones once typed the New Testament as a gift to her children.

Also surviving are her sister, Mabel Dulaney of Thornton, Miss.; son George Ferris, Chicago; daughter-in-law Cynthia "Gloria" Jones, Seattle; seven other grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Services will be private. Remembrances may go to The Listen Up Foundation, T.A.G. Partners, 9460 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, Attn.: Lydia Plotkin.

Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbeers@seattletimes.com