Mary Alice Jones

Mary Risk Jones, 93 years old, was born April 4th,1933 at 6:37 pm in Indianapolis at

Methodist Hospital. Her childhood was spent in the Brightwood area, a

working-class neighborhood about 4 miles NE of downtown Indianapolis.

The beginning of Mary’s life wasn’t without a challenge. Her doctor told

Mary’s parents “to not get too attached to her.” She had breathing and

swallowing issues. Maybe back in those days doctors didn’t hold back and

were more blunt? Mary, however, improved fro m his initial diagnosis.

Gene and Rheba Risk had 6 children: Rheba Jean being the oldest followed

by Mary, then Ginger, Bob, Jennifer and David. Bob now is the last of the Risk

generation... the last of the “Basic Six.”

Mary grew up in this inner-city childhood, and with her sister Ginger

somehow found the money for going to the movies and roller skating. On June

1st, 1951, she graduated from Arsenal Tech High School. And as always, life

after high school always brings about changes.

Mary soon put Indianapolis in the rear-view mirror and made her way westending

up in Santee, California, a suburb of San Diego. It was where she

began to shine!

She had a long career with the Prevost F. Smith Parachute Company,

starting as a sewing machine operator, eventually leading to a position of

Night Shift Supervisor where she trained new employees and monitored the

production process. Mary built parachutes for the government. She was

proud of her work and sewing skills, which started a lifelong hobby of sewing

and crocheting. She would create clothes for Barbie dolls and send them to

Indiana for her nieces Carol and Mary-Ann.

Many years later, she returned to Indianapolis. She went to work for the

General Motors plant as a seamstress for seat covers. She married John

(Johnny as he would affectionately be known) Jones on November 20, 1970.

Thus began a different lifestyle than the one she led in California. She, with

the urging of Johnny, became a motorcycle mama, owning her own bike and

riding to and from daily to GM. Daily commutes transitioned into weekend

trips across the state. The purchase of a camper turned into weekend

camping trips to Indiana’s State Parks. Springmill, close to John’s boyhood

home in Mitchell, was one of her favorites. Many times, they would park the

camper at Heartland Resort, an RV park close to Greenfield. Weekends were

spent here amongst an oasis of shaded campsites, a fishing lake, and friends

they embraced.

Her Johnny, and my wife Laura’s dad, passed away on December 12, 2020.

They had been married for 50 years. Life for Mary became another transition.

A visitation will be held on Friday October 2, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Flanner Buchanan - Washington Park East, 10722 E. Washington St., 46229 with a service following at 12 p.m.

https://together.oneroomstreaming.com/L79H6H please click her to watch Mary's service live