'Trailblazer' Lorean E. Jones dies at 85, was first woman parole officer for district

Gale Jones Carson remembers her mother taking multiple buses across town to a job where she ironed clothes. Then, Lorean E. Jones would go to school: first night school to obtain her high school diploma from Booker T. Washington High School, then to LeMoyne-Owen College for her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees and finally to Memphis State for her master’s degree.

As she both worked and studied, she also raised seven children after the death of her husband.

“It made a major impression on my life to see her drive for education and her drive to work. She never let anything get in her way for her education or work. She never missed a day of work. A lot of my work ethic comes from her,” Carson said. “She set such a foundation of strength for her family.”

Jones died Tuesday at 85 years old, leaving behind a city she had cared deeply for during her life.

Her “drive and tenaciousness” took her from night school to a master’s degree, with her becoming the first woman probation officer for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

She would go on to climb to deputy chief probation officer for the district court, the first African American to hold that role.

“As a woman, she was a pioneer in a male-dominated profession, and I considered her a beloved role model,” said V. Lynn Evans, who first met Jones through their church, First Baptist Church, Lauderdale. “I knew her to be a gracious, respectful and thoughtful individual, and she was especially concerned about the community and the role of the church in leading positive change in the community.”

Carson remembers helping her mother study for her tests as Jones worked on her master’s degree. People always found it amazing that Jones had four sets of twins, each a boy and a girl. One of her children died as an infant just a month before Jones’ husband passed away, leaving her to raise seven children with the help of their grandmother.

After her retirement in 1998, Jones continued to be heavily involved in Memphis through her church, local politics and organizations like the NAACP and Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

She was passionate about working with state legislators to regain voting rights for people who had finished their prison sentences, a goal that never came to fruition in Tennessee.

“She was very active behind the scenes politically,” Carson said.

That interest in politics also led to a friendship with journalist Otis Sanford, who first met Jones when he wrote an article about her role as the first woman working as a probation officer for the U.S. District Court.

Years later, she’d often call up Sanford to discuss columns he’d written.

“She cared deeply about the betterment of this community and we would have conversation after conversation after conversation about it through the years,” Sanford said. “I (remember her) as someone who really cared about her city.”

As a parole officer, she “took seriously her role” in helping people return to society, and her “legacy is one of making sure that the judicial system worked for everybody,” Sanford said.

Myron Lowery, city court clerk and former city councilman and mayor pro tempore, attended LeMoyne-Owen College at the same time as Jones. Later, he recalled that she was “extremely active” in the alumni association.

Lowery said he remembers her as “a good person, kindhearted, (who) did anything she could do to help the college.”

Carson, who has held influential roles of her own with the Shelby County Democratic Party and the local NAACP, said her drive comes from her mother.

“She was an 85-year-old person who did a lot in her life,” Carson said. “People do consider her a trailblazer.”

Services will be held Friday at Liberty Church-God In Christ, 544 E Raines Rd. A visitation will begin at 10 a.m. with funeral services to follow at noon.

Katherine Burgess covers government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Lorean E. Jones, longtime champion for Memphis, dies at 85