Ocala civic activist dies

Photo of Sylvia Jones. [Meagan Gumpert] June, 2020.

Sylvia Jones, a longtime and devoted civic activist, passed away unexpectedly in Ocala on Feb. 1 at the age of 72.

Jones, who was an educator and former speech writer for Gov. Bob Graham, was active in many areas of the community and was always keen on improving the quality of life for others. In fact, her daughter Trellis N. Williams said on Friday that the last conversation she had with her mother was about a recent gun show in West Ocala at the ED Croskey Community Center. The city of Ocala-owned center is in a neighborhood in which six people were shot on Jan. 1 and two of them died.

“She was fussing about the allowance of the gun show at the ED Croskey Center and she was hot and heated and had made plans to make an appointment with the city manager to have a meeting with him for someone to give an account as for how that happened and what did we need to do to make sure it didn’t happen again. Even in her last days, she was working for the community,” Williams said.

Among Jones’ many accomplishments locally was leading the charge, in 1982, to establish Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Ocala.

Jones was born Sept. 10, 1950, in a cottage on West Fort King Street. In a feature article in the July 2020 issue of the Gazette’s sister publication, Ocala Style magazine, she spoke of the vibrancy around the areas of West Fort King and Broadway Streets in the 1950s and ‘60s, and the lush beauty of Paradise Park, the segregated attraction near Silver Springs, which was operated by her uncle Eddie Vereen.

Jones was christened at St. Paul AME Church, where she remained a member until her passing. In the article, she recalled attending mass meetings at the church in 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which she said were held “with the intent to make an impact.” She said the commitment was strengthened with the April 1964 assassination of Dr. King.

Jones said that as a young girl she was among members of the community who called for a boycott of segregated stores in downtown Ocala.

“Ocala had a strong civil rights movement, and it was youth fueled with lots of energy,” she said at the time.

People attending the mass meetings wanted to eliminate school segregation and discrimination in public places. She said that for her family, that meant making a life-altering choice.

“Our parents met to decide if they wanted us to go to (the then all-white) Ocala High School or stay at Howard,” Jones said in the article. “At Howard, we had used books in poor condition and one microscope in the lab for 30 students. We did what we had to do to integrate.”

Jones was an honors student at OHS, was listed among “Who’s Who Among American High School Students,” was a member of the Quill and Scroll Society and was the editor of the school creative writing magazine, “Satori.”

After high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bethune-Cookman College and a master’s degree in social work at Florida State University (FSU). While at FSU, she was president of Graduate Students in Social Work and was presented the 1974 Graduate of the Year award from the FSU Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers. She was a professor at Florida A&M University and adjunct professor at FSU.

Jones had expertise in the areas of social work, mental health, community action and gerontology. She was a cancer survivor and was affiliated with the Families for Cancer Prevention United Foundation. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. In 1980, she was named the Urban League’s Outstanding Community Citizen.

In addition to Williams, who works in administration with Ocala Electric Utilities, Jones is survived by a son, Jerel Seamon, who is an assistant women’s basketball coach at a college in Arizona. Her extended family includes seven grandchildren (Jessica, Nealyn, Chori Michael, Keyziah, Joshua, Andrew and Sirr Christian) and seven great-grandchildren (Rhyan, Malik, Sede, Noa, Maxwell, Tre and Noah).

Meagan Gumpert Photography

Jones said during the 2020 interview that she was extremely proud that her immediate family members had all pursued higher education.

When asked about what her mother taught her in life, Williams replied: “That is a loaded question.”

“I find myself today trying to figure out how to live in a world that doesn’t include her, in the physical,” she continued. “But when I think about her legacy and the footprint that she has made in history in this aera, it brings me some satisfaction in knowing that she completed her assignment here.”

“As I was driving down Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue yesterday, I thought about my mom and the significance that, without her leadership and without her charge, we may not have a Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Ocala. It would still be 16^th.  But my mom led that march and that cause,” Williams shared.

“And I thought about my upbringing in Tallahassee and the privilege that I had of growing up in the shadow of so many giants. The names you see on buildings—those people were having dinner at my dinner table. My mom sat at the capitol in Tallahassee or at the governor’s mansion while she helped Gov. Graham. And just being in the presence of so many people through my mom brings me some peace and solace in knowing, again, that she fulfilled her assignment here on earth,” Williams said.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Hadley-Brown Funeral Home in Ocala. Services for Jones will begin at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at St. Paul AME Church at 718 NW 7^th St., Ocala. Williams said a repast will follow, also at the church.