to her eternal heavenly home with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She was preceded in death by her parents Lawrence & Gladys Clark, her beloved husband Wayne Gregory Jones, 2 grandchildren Shannon Danae Bracken and Jacob Wayne Jones, son-in-law Jim Parslow who was like a son, sister-in-law Elaine Clark and brother-in-law Norman Callison. Opie is survived by her 4 siblings and 5 children: sister Lorene (Byron) Moore of Springfield, MO; brother Larry Clark of Wellington; sister Roxy Callison of Winfield; brother Dan (Barbara) Clark of Mayfield; daughter Linda Parslow of Belle Plaine; son Greg (Linda) Jones of Mayfield; daughter Jill (George) Bracken of Garland, TX; son Glen (Rhonda) Jones of Wichita; daughter Julie Drake of Mayfield. Opie is also survived by 25 grandchildren and spouses, 23 great-grandchildren and spouses, 4 great-great grandchildren, many nephews, nieces and cousins, and one uncle. Opal D. was the second of 5 children born to Lawrence LaClede Clark and Gladys M. (Spengler) Clark. She was born February 27, 1933 in Wichita, Kansas during the Great Depression. Her family lived on a farm in Derby for a short time, then moved to a farm near Belle Plaine when she was very young. In order to have the opportunity to go to Kindergarten one semester, Opal D. stayed in Wichita with her maternal grandparents and aunt. She missed the farm back home, and on her walk home from Kindergarten she often stopped to talk to an old man who had a cow. She attended the Church of the Brethren in Wichita with her parents and grandparents, and it was there at the young age of 5 that she heard the story of Jesus and asked Him to be her Savior. Opal D. was a Daddy’s girl and, starting at a very young age, she followed him around outside on the farm. When she was young, her Dad farmed with a team of horses near Belle Plaine. Opal D. started school a year early and walked to Kirby School (a little one-room country school southeast of Belle Plaine) with her older sister Lorene and her best friend Mardell Hisken who lived on a neighboring farm. After finishing 2nd grade at Kirby School in 1940, Opal D.’s family moved to a farm in the Mayfield area where she and her sister walked to Longbranch School, another one-room country school. She enjoyed riding horses with her best friend Wanda Miller. “Opie” was “Dad’s boy on the farm”. When “our boys” were gone to World War II so it was hard to hire help on the farm, Opie’s Dad taught her to drive a pickup load of wheat to the elevator when she was only 12 years old. After a few days of driving lessons when he knew she could do it alone, she was scared but he gave her confidence saying, “You can do it! Just keep it between the ditches!” She also plowed with a tractor, cared for livestock, milked a cow, and sometimes helped pluck chickens for dinner. All her life, she still loved the farm. She was active in Redwing 4-H Club and learned to make the best bread you ever ate. Opal D. and her friend Ann Jackson were the last 8th grade class to graduate from Longbranch. Opie and her older sister Lorene boarded in homes in Wellington in order to go to high school because they had no car, and roads were not good paved roads like they are now. Opal D. graduated from Wellington High School in 1950 at the age of 17. Opal D. attended Mayfield Federated Church with her family. She met her future husband Wayne Jones at church. Wayne was from Arkansas but had come to Kansas to work on John Wade’s farm at Mayfield. Later Wayne did some farm work for Opie’s dad. One day while working on the tractor, the Lord told Wayne he should marry that girl. Opal D. told of a similar experience, feeling that the Lord told her to marry Wayne. They were engaged in early 1950 and they eloped later the same year and were married 58 years before Wayne’s death. You never knew a couple that loved each other more than Wayne & Opie. They had 5 children in their first 7 years. They lived in Wellington the first few years and later moved to a house in the country, then they moved southwest of Mayfield, and later they bought a little farm east of Mayfield where they moved in 1965. After their kids were all in school, Opal D. went back to finish college at Southwestern in Winfield. She graduated in 1968 at the age of 35 and began teaching in elementary schools at Argonia and Conway Springs. Later she went to WSU to get a Master of Education, Educational Psychology degree in 1976. She was hired by Sedgwick County to teach Special Ed at Conway Springs and Clearwater schools, including high school but mostly younger kids. When she retired, the Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Interlocal Cooperative recognized her in appreciation for 16 years of excellence and dedication to the education of the students of the Cooperative. She had a special love for kids. Most of her special ed students were above-average intelligence but had a learning disability, so Mrs. Jones devoted a lot of her time making different lesson plans for each child to help them overcome their particular learning disability. She would pray about the lesson plans she made for each individual kid. Later she told her daughter, “The Lord helped me be the teacher that I was.” After retiring in 1991, Mrs. Jones started Discovery Program for children in Mayfield at her church. She was the director and song leader as well as teacher for one of the classes. She also spent many hours adapting materials for each grade level. In 1998 the Winfield District of the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church recognized her faithful service in establishing a program of outreach for community youth age 4 through grade 6. Grandma Opie was one of the best! She loved cooking and feeding people. She was an avid reader, esp. her Bible. She was a fun, energetic grandma and kept her grandkids a lot during summer vacations. They had fun times with their cousins at Grandma Opie’s house in Kansas and the vacation house in Arkansas. One grandson was disabled and couldn’t stay with her like the others, so Grandma Opie went to his house and played games with him every Saturday. Whenever they were in Arkansas, Wayne and Opal attended Mountain Home Free Will Baptist Church where Wayne grew up. They loved the people there. Every summer Opal D. went to a peach orchard to pick the best ripe peaches and can them for Wayne because he loved them. (Wayne’s mother had taught her how to can peaches when the kids were young.) In Kansas, Opal D. used to take a jar of her home-canned peaches when she went to visit the elderly. She also donated to the Lord’s Acre Auction every year, and her jars of home-canned peaches sold really high! Opal D.’s church at Mayfield was very important to her. It was one of the biggest reasons she chose to move to the little town of Mayfield when it was time to leave the farm several years after her husband’s death. She supported her church generously and attended faithfully until the last couple of years when her health declined. After Wayne died, son Greg came by to check on his Mom every day until youngest daughter Julie moved in to take care of her Ma in her last years. Granddaughter Kailey also helped with her care. When she was no longer able to drive, son Glen drove down from Wichita and took his mother to church every Sunday and often took her out to eat. Opie loved Sibling Days when her brothers and sisters came one day a week to play games. One sister lives out of state but called and talked on speaker phone so the Clark siblings were all together. It was the highlight of Opie’s week. Daughter Jill and grandson Michael called frequently from Texas. Until her health started to decline, Opal D. also loved getting together with “Old Friends” once a month, including Donna Cook Yearout and her sister Doreen Applegate and others. And she enjoyed going to spend the night with her oldest daughter in Belle Plaine so they could have lots of time to talk. Even after she was no longer able to drive, her youngest brother Dan and wife Barb took her to Linda’s house for weekly visits. Opal D. still enjoyed singing old hymns and praying with Linda, and those are precious memories. The night she went to be with the Lord, her son Glen sat by his mother’s bedside and read lots of Scripture to her. Reading her Bible was so important to her. Opal D. loved the 23rd Psalm. It was the first Scripture she memorized when she was 5 years old, and it remained meaningful to her to the end of her life. A few years ago, Mom/Grandma Opie said she wanted us to have a happy “going home” celebration, not sad, because … her kids are grown, her husband has gone, she’s older, and she’s ready to be with the Lord. She wanted to encourage everyone to “read your Bible and believe what it says.” Visitation at Frank Funeral Home, 417 N. Washington in Wellington, Kansas on Friday August 26, 2022 from 1:00-7:00 p.m. with the family present from 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Funeral at Mayfield Federated Church on Garfield Ave. in Mayfield, Kansas on Saturday August 27 at 10:00 a.m. followed by burial at Osborn Cemetery at Mayfield. Memorial contributions may be given to Mayfield Federated Church for children’s ministries.