Myra Hunter Jones

Myra Hunter Jones, age 86, was born December 19, 1938 in Bradenton Florida to Eugene Hunter and Myra Durrance. She died on February 12, 2025. She is survived by her daughter Anna Maria Jones and her sister Mary Lalla Eckert. Myra was a loving, supportive mother, committed educator, and avid life-long learner. After graduating Stetson University, she worked as a translator for the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C., before returning to Florida to earn her Master’s in English Literature at the University of Florida, where she met and married Frank Jones, the father of her daughter. Together, they moved to Franklin, North Carolina, where they embarked on a variety of experiments in gardening, animal husbandry, and carpentry, among other DIY endeavors. In Franklin, Myra taught high school English and served as Community Schools Coordinator for Macon County, in which role she wore many hats, from writing grants to bring artists-in-residence to schools to chronicling school events for the local paper. After her divorce and almost 20 years in Franklin, Myra returned to Florida, joining the faculty of Manatee State College, first in North Port and then in Bradenton, where she taught English until she retired. In 2015, she moved to independent living in Westminster Towers in Orlando to be closer to her daughter. Wherever she was, Myra served her community, whether fundraising to support Franklin’s public library, tutoring English-as-Second-Language learners in Bradenton, or serving as the founding editor of a monthly magazine for residents at Westminster Towers in Orlando. Myra loved to travel, to learn new things, and to read and write. She used her considerable proposal-writing skills to successfully apply for summer institutes through the National Endowment for the Humanities and Fulbright to study in Brazil and Colombia, as well as Washington, Boston, Cleveland, Dartmouth, and Chapel Hill. After she retired, she took residential language courses in Taxco, Mexico and literary courses in Cambridge, England. A genuine extrovert, wherever she travelled, Myra loved meeting new people and making friends. She had a keen sense of humor and appreciation for the ridiculous, and she was a voracious reader, who delighted in talking about books with kindred spirits. Myra was an animal-lover, committed all her life to rescuing strays and adopting orphans. Even as her health declined and she was no longer able to travel and be active as she wished, she found joy every day in her beloved cats. To honor her memory, in lieu of flowers, please consider donating to https://petallianceorlando.org/ways-give/memorials/ Per Myra’s wishes, there will not be a service.

Myra Hunter Jones

December 19, 1938 - February 12, 2025