Sister Joy D. Jones

Sister Joy D. Jones served as the 13th general president of the Primary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Church’s organization for 1 million children who are 11 and younger. She was born in The Dalles, Oregon, to Aldo and Eleanor Adelia Ellsworth Harmon, who as “very active, humble and dedicated” members of the Church became “pioneers in building and strengthening the Church” in that region.

 As a young adult, Sister Jones worked as a dispatcher for the U.S. Forest Service at the Redmond Air Center in eastern Oregon, sending out smokejumpers, suppression crews and supplies for forest fires in the northwest, and as an administrative assistant at the Federal Building in Provo. She was also trained as a medical assistant and worked at a dermatology clinic in Provo. She received an associate of science degree in family living at BYU.

Sister Jones and her husband, Robert, lived in Santa Rosa, California, for 14 years, where her husband opened a chiropractic practice. When the Joneses’ first son was preparing to leave home to study at BYU and serve a mission, they felt a desire to be closer to him and their other children through their college and mission years so they relocated from California to Draper, Utah, a community her husband’s ancestors helped settle. She assisted in the open house for the Draper Utah Temple in 2009, which she describes as “a continual blessing in her life and in the lives of [her] family.”

Throughout her life, she has enjoyed many leadership opportunities within the Church in various ward and stake capacities in the Primary, Young Women and Relief Society organizations. She served almost six years on the Primary General Board. Sister Jones loves volunteering for Church welfare projects. “Service makes my heart sing,” she said.

She enjoys playing with her grandchildren, temple and family history work, cooking and nutrition, hiking and camping.