LWVAC is proud to have several Life Members—those who have been League members for 50 consecutive years! We’ve set out to interview them. Here we talk with Liz Jones. This interview was first published in the March 2019 LWVAC Voter.
Background
Liz’s family moved often when she was a child, ultimately settling in California.
It was there Liz met and married her husband Bill. The couple moved to
Gainesville in 1956, when Bill joined the UF faculty in Chemistry.
They raised three children in Gainesville, taking a sabbatical in the late 60’s to Germany (which included a somewhat tense trip across Checkpoint Charlie to show the kids what life was like on the other side).
Liz earned her master’s in counseling at UF in 1970. She worked for the Alachua County Government, starting out in the Crisis Center--where she could be called out to help the police disarm confused but dangerous citizens. Liz ultimately became the Director of the Department of Human Services (which encompassed the Crisis Center, Social Services, Animal Control, Foster Grandparents, Veterans Services, and other functions).
Liz is active in many local organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Florida Free Speech Forum, and Friends of the Library. She was a trustee at Santa Fe Community College.
Today two of the Jones children are engineers, and one works in health care. In 2017 son Kevin was selected as “UF Teacher-Scholar of the Year,” the same award his father had won in 1989!
When did you join the League?
I joined soon after moving to Gainesville, on the recommendation of several friends. The League was run at that time by the very influential and charismatic Enid Mahon. I later became President of our local League and also served on the State Board.
In the League I have always found people who are fair and thoughtful and have ideas—they don’t just follow political whims. If you are new to town, it’s a great place to learn about local issues and get a real grounding in what the community wants. I especially enjoy “Hot Topics.”
The Speaker’s Bureau is where I learned to speak in public.
What issues have moved you the most?
Civil rights. I was quite surprised—coming from California—at the level of segregation in Gainesville. African-American friends from California wouldn’t visit me in those early days. When I was president of the League, I decided to sponsor a luncheon meeting of the Superintendent of Education with the local principals. At that time, the Superintendent refused to attend an integrated luncheon.
A favorite and very rewarding project was the Bookmobile that Katie Dunn and I ran as the libraries were beginning to integrate. We drove around low-income housing areas and brought books to kids who would not otherwise have them.
What big changes have you seen in the landscape—political, the League, Gainesville?
In my field, I see that talk about mental illness is more in the open.
What advice or lessons learned would you pass on to our members?
Listening requires a lot of effort—if you’re not tired, you’re not doing your job.
