Dr. Helen Frances Jones

1935 - 2021

ALLEGANY - Dr. Helen Jones, retired American history professor at St. Bonaventure University, passed away in the early morning hours Tuesday (April 6, 2021) from a cardiac event, at Eden Heights in Olean.

Born April 18, 1935, in New York City, she was the daughter of William Daniel and Margaret Jones.

Dr. Jones spent her early years traveling around the country with her parents, living in nine different places before she reached the age of nine. The family settled in Forest Hills, where she lived while completing her degrees at Fordham University and Columbia University in New York.

She taught for the New York City Public Schools until she was offered her first professorial job at St. Bonaventure in 1968. In 1969, she took up residence on Pine Street in Allegany, where she lived until she entered Eden Heights, an assisted living facility in Olean, in 2019. She often wintered in Scottsdale, Ariz., with her dear friends, the Stauffers.

Her doctoral dissertation, James Lovell in the Continental Congress 1777–1782, is the only non-autobiographical reference for the cryptographer, naval officer and delegate from Massachusetts listed by the United States House of Representatives website on the history of its delegates.

Her specialty in teaching was in American history from the Continental period until the Civil War, and she loved talking about the history of the presidents and vice presidents of that era. She was very proud of her doctorate, being one of just a few female candidates in history during her years at Columbia University.

She loved her time at St. Bonaventure and spoke often of her students and colleagues. She served, unwillingly, as acting chair of the history department for one semester, preferring to leave that prestige to her dear friends. She remained at St. Bonaventure for the entirety of her career, which ended at the millennium.

Though she was not a native of Allegany, she considered it her true home in her 50-plus years there. Her roses and her swimming pool made her house a home.

Helen Jones is survived by the friends she made in her years in Forest Hills, Marjorie "Jo" Stauffer and Tom Haynes Sr.; her godson, Dr. Robert Stauffer and his wife Rebecca Maines; and her dear friend, Aaron Tiller.

There will be a memorial service at 10 a.m. Saturday (April 10, 2021) at St. Bonaventure Cemetery. Rev. James Vacco, OFM, pastor of St. Bonaventure Church and a former student of Dr. Jones, will officiate.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Allegany Public Library, 90 W. Main St., Allegany, NY 14706.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral Home, Olean.