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Note: H94
Note: Marie, daughter of Clara and Welborn Jones, was born on March 26, 1901 in a Victorian house at 316 N. Ross Street, in Auburn. Growing up, she received lots of toys and attention from her two bachelor uncles, Clifton and Byron. A friend of hers, George Wright, stated that "Marie had all of the latest toys, lots of them, and we used to go to her house to play with them." She was a graduate of Lee County High School in 1917. According to a childhood friend, Nelda Beasley Huff, "Marie was short and petite; loved music and played the piano. She liked sports, tennis, horseback riding, and baseball. She liked cats and had several over the years." Marie graduated from the Woman's College of Alabama (now Huntingdon) in 1921 with a teaching degree. She taught school in Louisiana, Honduras, and Cuba. While in Cuba she taught some of the children of the Bacardi (Bacardi Rum) family. While teaching in Honduras, Marie would travel from there to New Orleans. She rode a United Fruit Company steamer, which was always loaded with bananas. The dining room on the boat used to have china set aside just for her personal use. Marie told friends that this made her feel very special. Returning home to Auburn, she lived with her parents at 258 Opelika Road. It was said that she had lots of boyfriends and marriage proposals, but Marie never married. When asked about it, she replied: "The ones I loved didn't love me, and vice versa." She worked as an administrative assistant for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Tillage Machinery Laboratory in Auburn for 33 years before she took her retirement in 1971. She sold the family home on Opelika about ten years after her father died, and built a modern house at 750 Cary Drive. Marie was an avid baseball fan and very loyal to Auburn University. She went to most all of the baseball games. One day the baseball team surprised her by stopping the game and bringing her out onto the field. They introduced her and declared that it was "Marie Jones Day." They presented her with a cake, a placque, and a baseball that all of the players had autographed. Another friend of hers, Grace Harris, recalled that Marie was a good neighbor and also an avid bridge player. Marie had scheduled a bridge party at her home the day after she died. Marie died in her sleep of natural causes on October 31, 1984 at the age of 83. In Marie's will she specified that part of her money be used for a student baseball scholarship at Auburn University. Marie left cash amounts to a woman who had worked as her maid, and also to a man who was a general handy-man. She also specified in her will that "Snoopy," her cat, be put to sleep and buried with her. The veterinarian, Dr. John Saidla, who was also a good friend, said he just couldn't do that. He took Snoopy with him back to his clinic. Snoopy was therefore 'adopted' and allowed to run freely at the Auburn Vet Hospital. Marie was buried in Pine Hill Cemetery, Auburn, Alabama.
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