Dora Alcy Houston-Jones' Obituary
Dora Alcy Houston-Jones was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on July 14, 1943 to Opal and David “Sam” Houston while her father, a career Navy man, served in WWII. Like many children born during wartime, she didn’t meet him until she was over a year old. She grew up in the small town of Illmo, Missouri and lived there until she moved to Houston, Texas in 1971. In 1985, she moved to Kaufman, Texas and married the love of her life on January 22, 1988. While living in Kaufman, she served as Regional Manager of The Salvation Army-Kaufman as well as serving in the local prison ministry. In 2013, she and her husband moved back to Houston.
To everyone’s surprise, this born and raised, die-hard Southern Baptist woman did the unthinkable and converted to Catholicism. She continued to answer her calling to serve in the prison ministry as a group facilitator in the Bridges To Life Program. She loved her “guys in white” unconditionally, and the feeling was reciprocated. After suffering a stroke in 2018 that left her with only the use of her right arm and hand, she feared she would never return to her beloved prison ministry. Her paralysis didn’t stop her, though…where there’s a will, there’s a way! Her love of the prison ministry was contagious resulting in her and her daughter serving together as group facilitators at the Darrington Unit in Rosharon every week, continuing to do so even after she moved to a nursing home.
She never met a stranger and was loved wherever she went. She had plenty of love to go around and could always be counted on to lend a sympathetic and encouraging ear. She was the person to go to if you needed to feel loved and supported…or just be told what you wanted to hear. She always seemed to know what to say to someone needing comfort, having the most gentle and soft touch when she laid her hands on you.
Living with paralysis wasn’t easy, but she made the best of her situation by always having a positive attitude, spreading her warmth, love, and unique perspective on life to the nursing home residents and staff. Her family catered to her every want and need during her time there--her husband sparing no expense to keep her comfortable and more importantly to just make her happy.
The great loves of her life were her husband, her children, being “Granny” to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her Lord, antiques, antique glass, the prison ministry, talking on the phone all day to her family and friends, and Diet Dr. Pepper. Her unshakeable faith in God guided her throughout her life.
“When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder…” In the early morning hours of November 22, the roll was called up yonder and we were shocked and devastated to see her name was on it. Passing away in her sleep, she was reunited with her parents, her grandparents, her “Aunt Ninny” and Uncle Don, her friends, and the many dogs she had loved over the years. Had someone told her she would pass away, she would have been devastated to leave her family, yet relieved to be freed from her paralysis and whole once again.
She is deeply missed and forever cherished by her husband Jeral “Ray” whom she referred to as “My Jonesy”, her children: Mischelle, Yvonne, Ray (Kim), Janalyn, and Cathy (Randy), her grandchildren: Ryan (Autumn), Brian (Stefan), Ashley (Carlos), Shelby (Steven), Brianna (John), Colby, Deven, Savannah, Misty, and Jeralyn (James), her great-grandchildren: James, Brooklyn, Luke, Jamielyn, Ayden, and Duke, her beloved cousin Hugh, her sister-in-law Nita, her treasured friend at the nursing home Fifi, her roommate Francis, her nurse Charlotte, the CNA’s and nurses who loved her, and many other friends.
Our lives will never be the same without her.
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