In Memory: Elizabeth Pike Jones
We just recently became aware of the passing of retired University Cataloger Elizabeth Pike Jones, 94, who died Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007 at her home. After graduating from Mt. Holyoke College, Libby Jones taught German at Westbrook Jr. College in Portland, ME from 1938-1941 and worked as Catalogue Librarian, responsible for cataloguing both German and Dutch books, at Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge from 1943-1957. In 1957 her family moved to Canton where she joined the staff at the St. Lawrence University library until her retirement in 1978.
We have heard wonderful reports of her dedication to her work in the basement of the library. When it got cold, says Joan Larsen, director of research instruction, Mrs. Jones would put on fingerless woolen gloves and continue to produce a prodigious amount of work. Mrs. Jones had also lived in France on three different occasions, 1965-66, 1970-71 and 1978-79, with her late husband Harriman Jones, who was director of our Junior Year Abroad Program.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, November 3, 2007 tentatively early in the afternoon at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Canton. Arrangements are with the Lawrence Funeral Home, Canton. Those desiring may send memorial contributions to the A.S.P.C.A., 424 E. 92nd Street, New York, NY 10128. We extend our sympathies to those who knew and admired Libby Jones for her behind-the-scenes but so absolutely critical work with our faculty and students.
Dr. Daniel Sullivan, President, St. Lawrence University, 10/22/07
A Recollection from Lynn Ekfelt
Ms. Lynn Ekfelt, a librarian at St. Lawrence from 1971 - 1998, had this recollection of Mrs. Jones: "I do have one funny memory of Libby which also indicates her dedication to the library. The first two winters I was here ('70-'71 and ''71-'72) were the only times in my memory that St. Lawrence ever closed because of snow. (I'm not counting the ice storm of '98--that was ice, not snow.) One morning I awoke to find the snow hip-deep on the level ground. Even though classes had been cancelled, the library remained open, the idea being that students would be confined to campus due to the weather and would naturally want to spend their day off catching up on their studying in the library. I was able to walk in the plowed street up to campus. Once I got to the sidewalk that runs by Richardson to the front of the library, though, I was on my own. The snow situation was exacerbated by a layer of ice on the ground underneath. I started to struggle along, fearing that if I fell, I'd never be able to stand up again. Fortunately for me, though, I could see Libby and her huband Harriman holding each other up about a hundred yards ahead of me. She was a tiny woman, about my height, still, she floundered in, breaking a trail--liberally punctuated by sitz marks--that I could sort of follow. Need I say that the expected hordes of students never materialized? But Libby was there in case they had."
