Diane J. Jones

Mrs. Lucy Diane Jones, age 78, formerly of Tennille, Georgia, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at her daughter’s home in Cadwell, Georgia, on Sunday, November 8, 2026, following an extended illness.

A funeral service celebrating her life will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, November 12, at Mount Gilead Primitive Baptist Church, south of Tennille. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Elder Kenneth Brantley will officiate. The family will receive friends at the church from 10 a.m. until the hour of service. Pallbearers will be Derek Register, Noah Gonzalez, Jason Nichols, Wally Johnson, Dylan Martin, and Ray Jones, Jr.

Diane was born in Coral Gables, Florida, on November 21, 1947, to the late Samuel Paul Jones and Lucy Elmira Smith Jones. She grew up in Coral Gables, graduated from high school, and excelled in home economics. While in high school, she met her future husband, Raymond F. Jones, on a date at a drive-in movie theater. They became high school sweethearts and shared a marriage that lasted a lifetime. Diane began her working career in retail while living in Opa-locka, where she and Ray started raising their family. They later moved to Miramar, Florida, where she returned to school to study accounting. She went on to work in accounting for Graham Companies in Miami Lakes, later serving as executive assistant to the company’s president. After Ray retired in the mid-1990s, they settled in Washington County, Georgia, where Diane’s family had originally come from. Together, she and Ray earned their commercial driver’s licenses and worked as a professional truck-driving team for BH Transfer, traveling throughout the lower 48 states.

Diane was a faithful, active member of Mount Gilead Primitive Baptist Church, where she and Ray always sat in the first pew. They loved dancing and often hosted dances for family and friends in their home. Diane also enjoyed sewing, cooking, gardening, and shopping. Above all, she cherished her family, especially her grandchildren.

She is survived by her son, Raymond Fred Jones Jr., and his wife, Jenny, of Harrison; her daughter, Julie J. Denham, of Cadwell; her beloved grandchildren, Kaitlyn Bennett, Eryn Harris and her husband, Blake, Lauryn Register and her husband, Derek, and Emily Gonzalez and her husband, Noah, Madison Jones and Chloe Jones; and her great-grandchildren, Bayleigh Shiver, Benjamin Ray Shiver, Hudson Register, Marshall Harris, Cooper Register, and Emery Harris.

Memorial donations may be made to Mount Gilead Primitive Baptist Church, 154 Mount Gilead Church Road, Tennille, GA 31089.

Online condolences may be shared at mayandsmithfuneraldirectors.com.

May & Smith Funeral Directors of Sandersville is in charge of arrangements.