"My mother, Bessie H. Jones, was a wonderful mother and friend to me all my life," said Sue Jones Byrns. "She was always interested in, supportive of, and loving toward her four grandchildren. I wanted to let others know of her goodness and decided to make a gift of her home to the church."
Because of her family's devotion and generosity, the Jones home was, therefore, deeded to the Stamford Saint Ann's Church after her death. The property she left behind will, as a result, perpetuate her memory and serve the people of the church she held in high regard - despite the fact that she had never presented herself for initiation into the Catholic Church.
Bessie Jones "was a very good, generous, kind person. She always wanted to believe the best of everybody," said her daughter and her grandchildren are Catholic. And the fact that she wasn't in communion with their church never stopped her from respecting the priests who served them.
"When we lived in Texas City, we were very fond of our Filipino priest. He became a good friend and a very special person to us," said Sue Byrns. "When my mother heard that our priest's adoptive grandfather - a Mexican man - was buried in Stamford, she went out to the cemetery to find his grave."
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