Wilma (Nagel) Jones

Descendants

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Wilma Louise Nagel was born October 21, 1907, in Chicago, Illinois, to Andrew F. Nagel and Emily Josephine Verrill. Her sister, Rezina Lavella Nagel was born in Chalmers, IN when Wilma was 5. The family lived in Chalmers, Big Creek Township, White County Indiana throughout her childhood. Wilma attended Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. While attending IU, she was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and the Panhellenic Association, where she made life-long friends. She married Clayton Eugene Jones on February 14, 1931, in Chalmers, Indiana. At the time, Clayton was a widower with 2 daughters, Jean, age 6, and Joanne, age 3. Wilma and Clayton began their married life in Sheldon, IL, where he was owner/operator of the Family Movie Theater. They had two children during the first six years of their marriage, Marcia Elaine, born 11/17/1933, and Robert Nagel, born April 1, 1937. Robert died at the age of 5 on June 4, 1942, in Sheldon, IL of a lingering illness. The family moved to Hoopeston, IL, between 1945 -1948. Clayton died in Danville, IL, as the result of a car accident on September 16, 1951. After Clayton’s death, Wilma resumed teaching, first in Potomac and Wellington, Illinois before teaching in Hoopeston, IL, where she taught Latin and College Prep English until she retired. During this period, she was member of the Universalist Church, later the Unitarian-Universalist Church, she was an active member of the Women of the Moose and the Mary Hartwell Catherwood Club. and she became very involved in migrant’s rights. She volunteered as an English teacher to the migrant population in Hoopeston, especially during the summers when she helped at the summer school program for migrant children. She was very involved in her grandchildren’s lives, attending their sports events and school activities. One of her fondest memories was attending the Rose Bowl Parade with a sorority sister in the 1960’s. After her retirement in the early 1970’s, Wilma did some substitute teaching in Hoopeston. She died on May 30, 1979, in Hoopeston, Illinois, at the age of 71, following a short illness.