Francoise Jones, 88, a teacher of French Posted on July 27th
Francoise “Frannie” de Saint Jones, 88, formerly of Chestnut Hill, a French teacher for more than 40 years, died of heart failure Tuesday at Springfield Residence in Wyndmoor.
Mlle. Jones was born in Williamsport, Pa., and grew up in Philadelphia. Her French mother met her father when he was stationed in Europe with the Army during World War I.
She attended Springside School in Chestnut Hill and graduated from Friends Select School in Center City. She was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she received two awards for excellence in French.
For several years. she taught at the Haverford School and at Miss Zara’s School in Chestnut Hill. She joined the Springside School faculty in 1954 and for the next 35 years taught French to lower-school students.
“Teaching is an exciting journey that has no beginning and never ends,” she told a reporter when she retired in 1989. Her colleagues at Springside said that there were always music and laughter coming from her classroom.
Mlle. Jones wrote plays her students performed, wrote short stories, and published a children’s book, Messenger of Fair Island.
When asked by a reporter what she planned to do in retirement, she said she planned to return to Springside to volunteer in the library so “I can still be with the children I love.”
Mlle. Jones enjoyed summers at her family’s home in Palmyra, Va., in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
She is survived by a sister, Helen-Lee; a niece; and cousins.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Monday in the chapel at Springfield Residence, 551 E. Evergreen Ave., Wyndmoor. Burial will be in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va.
Memorial donations may be made to the Francoise de S. Jones Award, Springside School, 8000 Cherokee St., Philadelphia 19118.
Contact staff writer Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or sdowney@phillynews.com.