Debra Elaine Jones

Debra Elaine Stewart Jones, age 65, of Gatesville, passed away on Saturday, December 30, 2017. Funeral services will be at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, January 3, 2018 at Scott’s Funeral Home with burial following at Pidcoke Cemetery. Visitation will be will be an hour prior to the service. Debra was born on September 20, 1952 in Springfield, Missouri to the late Raymond Stewart and Catherine Garton Stewart. She attended many schools throughout high school due to her father’s military career and was proud to be an “Army Brat”. She graduated high school from AFCENT International High School in Brunssum, The Netherlands in 1970. Her father was eventually transferred to Fort Hood, Texas and she attended Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas for a couple of years. In 1976, Debra joined the Brownwood Police Department and was the first female police officer hired by the department. In 1985, she resigned from the police dept. and accepted assignment with the Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice, as an Internal Affairs Investigator. In 1987, Debra transferred to the Gatesville Unit to security and retired in 2012 as a Lieutenant of Correctional Officers. She then became the sole caregiver of her father until his death in 2014. Debra married Randy Jones on June 7, 1989. The two had met on a blind date only three months earlier. They faced numerous trials during their marriage which only strengthened their love for each other and their faith in God. Debra was a talented baker and her sweet desserts were often requested by her co-workers, friends, and family. She also was a doll collector of vintage dolls and still possessed several dolls of her childhood in their original boxes. She also enjoyed sewing and crafts and made cloth dolls for family members, as well as for craft shows. Debra was a member of Trinity Baptist Church and loved the Lord. She truly loved her church family and was so grateful for their compassion and prayers. Debra thought of her impending death not as an ending, but simply as a change of address from here to Heaven. She was preceded in death by her parents, Raymond and Catherine Stewart. Debra is survived by her husband, Randy Jones; son, Christian Huston and wife, Hollie; daughters, Chastity Jones and Arlie Conklin and husband, Billy Ray; grandsons, Saeger and Hayden Huston; granddaughters, Denver and Davyn Conklin; and a sister, Danette Stewart. Memorials may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.