Tracey Jones

Jones Tracey Ann Passed away peacefully in her home on March 17, 2023, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 69 years old. Born in New York City on December 10, 1953, she was the second of four daughters of the late, Anna and Jacob Jones. Tracey had a creative spirit that expressed itself early in childhood through writing, crafts, and music. She attended public schools in New York and Philadelphia, PA and earned a BA from Temple University in 1977. After college, she returned to New York and worked for the city in social services helping adults with housing, employment, or obtaining high school GEDs. An entrepreneur, Tracey opened and operated a successful boutique of unique gifts and fashions in Brooklyn. In addition to managing her boutique, Tracey pursued interests in hair care, personal grooming, and reflexology. In her spare time, she cared for the hair and skin of family and friends. A firm believer in sustainability, she often made her own concoctions at her kitchen sink and developed natural ingredient products to nourish thick, brittle, breaking and coarse hair. This was the start, in 1996, of the Earthly Delight© product line, which was sold in many Whole Foods Markets and health stores. Tracey eventually sold the product line and returned to Philadelphia to fulfill a desire to educate children. In 2003 she began her teaching career in elementary charter schools and eventually transferred to Philadelphia public schools where she taught first through third grades. She earned an MA, summa cum laude, in Education, from St. Joseph University in 2006. As a teacher Tracey found her calling. She was a gifted teacher and she loved it! Her "old school tough love" combined with encouragement and the expectation that children in her class would do their best had a positive impact on her students. It gave her great joy to meet former students who, as successful adults, remembered her and to hear how she made a difference in their lives. Indeed, Tracey was someone the students remembered. Her strikingly long dreadlocks made an unforgettable and positive impression on students apparent by the many teacher drawings they gave her as gifts. Her vast collection of notes and drawings speak to the fact that students loved "Miss Jones." After her retirement in 2017, Tracey divided her time between substitute teaching and developing Traebella Organics, a line of soy candles that she had planned to sell through Etsy. Sadly, she was not able to bring this vision to fruition. A self-described "Cat Woman," Tracey loved all felines. She always had a cat or two as pets. In addition, she fed strays and would take them to shelters that did not euthanize. Dream vacations for Tracey involved staying at conservation centers where she had the opportunity to interact with wild cats. She is survived by sisters, Rev. Jacqueline Jones-Smith, Esquire (Joshua Smith), Dr. Aribelle D. Jones, and Kimberley E. Rice (Anthony Rice); niblings Leander M. Michael, III, Andrew R. Levette, III, Joshua I. Rice, and Vic T'bedii; relatives, devoted friends, and her cat, Caesar. We, her family, will truly miss her brilliance, passion, and unique style. It was her wish that those she loved not gather to mourn her passing but remember her as she was in life. In keeping with her concern for children, those who wish, may celebrate her life by donating to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in her memory.