Wendy Jones

Wendy Eden Jones left this earth on Friday, December 5, 2025, at Beaufort Memorial Hospital heading for parts unknown - although we suspect she's finally getting her cabin in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, with a cat on her lap, a cup of tea and absolutely no obligation to answer her phone.

A casual collector of bizarre art and an obsessive seeker of obscure activities, Wendy was a cache of southern small-town tidbits. Years of wandering backroads turned her into the person to call when looking for the most unusual roadside shop, tiny-town festival, or weird little eatery that turned out to be way better than expected. She saw what other people didn't even notice, and half the time she had a story about it you couldn't believe… but absolutely knew was true.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, to the late David Earle Eden and Linda DeLauder Eden, Wendy's life moved all over the map: Arizona, Oregon, Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, North Carolina, and eventually back to South Carolina again. She loved the Lowcountry - home of her husband Jeff - but she always held the Tar Heel mountains close, talking more than once about running away to a (mostly theoretical) mountain commune if the world pushed her too far.

Wendy had a deep, unapologetic preference for cats over other living creatures, but also cultivated a circle of friends so precious that they could pick up conversations either days or decades later without skipping a beat. She was the keeper of small but important details, from the model trains her father made a signature touch at the rural libraries he built, to the color-coded dot stickers attorneys would cover her son Dixon with when she worked at the SC Bar. He survived. Mostly.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina's journalism program, Wendy was a crime reporter at the Beaufort Gazette in the early 1990s before moving into communications and nonprofit work. Over the years she worked with the S.C. Bar Association in Columbia, Brevard College in North Carolina, the Savannah Convention & Visitors Bureau, The Anderson Group on Hilton Head Island, the Literacy Center, and the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry. Most recently, as Director of Marketing and Communications for United Way of the Lowcountry, she poured her energy, opinions, humor, and big ideas into work that mattered deeply to her, most recently Showers of Dignity and the Becky Francis Dignity Project.

Wendy is survived by her husband, Jeff Jones; her son, Dixon; her mother, Linda Eden of Brevard, North Carolina; her sister, Lynn, and brother-in-law, Tim Chambers of Ringgold, Georgia; and her niece, Mallory Howsen of Chattanooga, Tennessee. She also leaves behind a lot of friends who are still trying to figure out how we're supposed to navigate each day without her commentary, her music recommendations and her off-the-wall honesty.

Wendy was preceded in death by her father, Dave Eden.

We'll celebrate Wendy properly at a later date. When we do, we hope everyone will come ready with a story, a song recommendation, or something just a little irreverent to say - because that's what she would have wanted.

In lieu of flowers, please consider gifts to the United Way of the Lowcountry in Wendy's honor, which will support Showers of Dignity and the Becky Francis Dignity Project - causes close to Wendy's heart.

"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." - Ruth Bader Gisburg.