Margel Elaine Jones

Margel Elaine (Peters) Jones passed away peacefully at her home in Spokane, Washington, on March 5, 2020 at the age of 96. She was born in Priest River, Idaho, on August 26, 1923, to Vesta and Frank Peters.

Margel graduated from high school in Metaline Falls, WA and attended Holy Names College in Spokane on a music scholarship where she was a member of Alpha Mu Delta Sorority.

In 1947, Margel was crowned by Mayor Arthur Meehan as “Miss Spokane,” the official hostess for Spokane, Washington.

She was well regarded as a talented soprano and was often accompanied on the piano by her sister Janice. For several years, she toured as soloist with the Gonzaga Glee Club and appeared in numerous musical and operatic productions. Winning the vocal competition of the Spokane Music Festival enabled her to sing an aria from Madame Butterfly with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She sang with “Serenaders,” a Spokane radio program, and after marrying Larry Ayars in 1948, moved to Salt Lake City where she had a TV show.

After returning to Spokane, she starred in the Civic Theater’s production of “The Merry Widow.”

For nearly 30 years, Margel worked in the Accounting and Credit Servicing Departments of the General Motors Acceptance Corporation.

After being single for 19 years, Margel married Roy Jones on New Year’s Eve, 1971.

Margel was preceded in death by her children, Jana Lynn and Curtis Glen Ayars and her sisters, Marilyn Beach and Janice Murphy.

She is survived by her husband, Roy Jones of Spokane; sister, Jayne Symmes of Spokane; step-children, Karen Kennedy of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Maria Nutter of Seattle, and Leslie Brown of Seattle; her step-grandchildren, Samantha Nutter of Phoenix, AZ, Zach Brown of Portland, OR, Andrew Brown of Seattle, Jacob Brown of Portland, OR, Kylee Boggs of Satellite Beach, FL, and Nick Jones of Orlando, FL; and step great-grandchildren, Cyril and Ana Brown of Portland, OR.

A Memorial Celebration of Margel’s life will be scheduled when the garden is in bloom.

Please share your memories of Margel on her Tribute Wall.