Bethany Faith Jones

Celebrating the Life of Bethany Faith Jones
Born on June 10, 1986 in Houston, Texas to Cynthia Doniger and soon loved by her father Craig van der Smissen, "Bethy" as she was known to her family and friends, spent her childhood in Friendswood and the Clear Lake area. As a child she enjoyed attending peppermint park and other circuses with her grandma and grandpa van, firewalking with her father, cold canned green beans, and she discovered her lifelong love of tree frogs. Later she moved to Michigan with her mother and step father Marvin Shippey (it is unknown if she learned to incorrectly pronounce words like "crayon" and "both" from this time). After returning to Texas to live with her father and younger brother Carl Justus van der Smissen, she attended Pearland High School where she was a "theater kid" and met her lifelong friends Chynna Smith and Sarah Schroder. After graduation in 2004, she attended the University of Houston before deciding, in 2005, to pursue a career as a legal assistant and eventually a paralegal. On November 8, 2008 in Galveston, Texas, she married her best friend Zachary Marc Jones. During their early years as a couple she was the primary breadwinner, supporting him in chasing his dream of becoming a golf professional. During this time, she was an active member of the Gulf Coast Wakeboarding Association holding the positions of secretary and treasurer. In September of 2013 Bethy and Zach were able to purchase their home and land in Conroe, Texas to begin pursuing their shared passion for vegetable farming. At this time, after 8 years as a paralegal, she "retired" to begin full time home-making and farming. She became a volunteer driver for Montgomery County Meals on Wheels, a cause she would support throughout her life with donations of time, money, and even produce grown on "Jones Farm". Bethy also developed a passion for DIY home remodeling and renovation projects including learning electrical wiring and installation from her father-in-law, flooring installation, and many other skills, culminating in the 2024 purchase and undertaking of a project to restore an 1875 Eastlake Victorian house in Jewett, Texas. On January 30, 2020 she met the love of her life when her daughter Piper Aurelia Jones was born. Over the next five years, Bethy and Piper became "thick as thieves" with constant adventures "paling around" town (and beyond) with activities like hiking, museum and zoo visits, bookstores, home-school unit studies. Most of all Piper helped Bethy rediscover a childhood joy that grew into a passion of roller skating as a family several times per week.
Bethy had a love of birthdays, she always remembered and celebrated them with family and friends, making each one special. She was a talented party planner who leveraged gatherings to become the supportive glue for the various relationship circles in her life. She was an exceptionally thoughtful gift giver remembering even fleeting wishes big and small and making them a reality whenever you'd forgotten about them. As a spouse, she was the practical half but always willing to take a leap or support a new idea. As an intellect she was keenly skeptical and direct. She had a lifelong obsession with books, now instilled in Piper, often reading over a hundred titles per year and assembling a home library of knowledge spanning history, medicine, philosophy, economics, and every other subject under the sun. However she did not neglect great storytelling, having a particular love of drama, mystery, and science fiction. Bethy had a love of music, enjoying everything from pop to oldies, from symphony to emorock, and everything in between (just not country music). Those who heard her wonderful singing voice were blessed by its sweet, soft beauty. In all things, Bethy was particular, always liking things to be "just so". In all things she took special pride in doing a "great job" which aptly describes how she communicated having accomplished her life's mission of "bringing some sunshine into the lives of those around her".
She left us far too suddenly and too soon, all with broken hearts, but her amazing grace, clarity, and strength left us all with a sense of love and peace that none of those around her will ever forget. She leaves behind her large extended families, her husband of 18 years Zachary Marc Jones, her young daughter Piper Aurelia Jones, her brothers Carl Justus van der Smissen and Joshua Briggs, her beloved fathers Craig van der Smissen, Marvin Shippey, and Robert Doniger, her mother Cynthia Doniger, and many, many friends both old and new. We will always carry her in our hearts. "Olives" to Button from Bunny.