Annie Jones

Annie Joy Pinegar Jones, 90, of Orem, passed away on Monday, March 28, 2022. She was born March 25, 1932, in Latuda, Carbon County, Utah, (now a ghost town) to Edward Levi Pinegar and Mary Adeline Jolley Pinegar. She married James Richard Jones in the Salt Lake Temple on June 2, 1953.

She was the fourth of five children. Her parents instilled in her a love for family and devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ that was the focus of her life.  She was often sick as a baby and almost died from asthma. Her Grandpa Jolley gave her a blessing that she would be healed and have good use of her lungs. When she grew to become a great trumpet player, with excellent use of her lungs, it would bring her Grandpa to tears.

Annie was born with music in her soul. When she was only four years old she started singing alto to harmonize with what her mother was singing, then laughed and asked her mom what she was doing. She also had perfect pitch. When we were practicing the piano, she could sing - on pitch, from the other room – “B flat!” or whatever the name of the note was we were struggling to find. She played the trumpet and piano beautifully, by ear or with music.  While playing or composing, she could transpose music into any key, with hardly a pause. She was first chair trumpet in the BYU band and orchestra, participated with many, many bands and orchestras, and performed innumerable solos. When she was young, almost every social or church event would have a musical program, so she would perform several times a week.

She met Richard while they were both working at the Del Monte cannery in Spanish Fork. They started dating when Richard came home on furlough from the Army, so much of their romance consisted of frequent love letters.

Annie attended BYU for three years before she married Richard and moved to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where Richard was stationed with the Army. Until she gave birth to her first child, Linda Sue, she worked as a secretary. She was skilled at taking shorthand and as a typist.

After leaving Texas, Annie and Richard moved back to Utah, living in small towns for several years while Richard coached and their family grew. Mike was born in Payson, Mary in Fillmore. Then Richard was hired by BYU and they moved to Provo. In Provo, Julie and Melody were born. The family moved to Colorado while Richard got his doctorate degree, and Jared was born in Greeley, Colorado.  Richard went on Sabbatical to BYU-Hawaii (then, Church College of Hawaii) where he was the basketball coach.  After returning from Hawaii, Leilani was born, a “sweet heavenly flower” to remind them of their time in paradise.

Annie avoided contention like the plague, and was almost always calm.  Her children were all amazed and proud when one day in Hawaii she stood up to a big, angry neighbor who was chasing his wife while under the influence.  Annie let her in to keep her safe. While the police were searching for the man, he came to the door, knowing that his wife was hiding inside. Annie sternly told him it was her house and he could not come in. He didn’t.

Annie somehow managed to go back to school while in Hawaii, finishing her degree in music while raising six kids and without really disrupting her children’s lives. She was definitely gifted, but she also worked hard to improve her talents. Her senior recital she talked about how you can make music by blowing into things, and then demonstrated how to make music with the horn of an animal, a seashell, and even a garden hose. She was the favorite graduate and came home covered with so many leis you could hardly see her.

She and Richard were pleased to be able to return to BYU Hawaii for another year after Richard’s retirement from BYU Provo. During that time, Annie played  trumpet in the Polynesian Cultural Center brass band.

In addition to her musical performance skills, she was a gifted composer. She wrote many songs: some for full choirs, others for small groups or soloists. Quite a few of them were for special occasions – to honor her mother, husband, children, or the birth of a grandchild. Often the lyrics came in response to scripture study, but she also wrote of life’s joys and almost always wrote the lyrics herself as well.

One of her first songs was “Parenthood.” It expressed the feelings she had when she became a mother. While there were many wonderful songs, including her most popular, “Lovest Thou Me,” one of her later projects was a book of childrens’ songs, including “Families are Fun to Belong to,” which is still sung at many family gatherings.

When three of her children went on missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the same time, she was blessed to help supplement the family income by teaching humanities at what is now Utah Valley University. She started out playing the piano for a choir on campus and then was offered a position to teach music appreciation. Eventually they asked her to teach Humanities. That was out of her comfort zone, but she studied hard to learn and prepare for her students.

Many of our friends and family have said how welcome they felt in her home. Annie loved when people came to visit. She made others feel comfortable because she was genuinely interested in them.

After she and Richard retired, they served two missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They served in the Jerusalem Center for two years, Annie as executive secretary to the Director and Richard as tour director. One of her happiest trumpet moments was playing on top of Mount Sinai.

They also served a mission to Washington D.C. and helped strengthen the members in that area.

She served in many different callings in the Church. Everything from writing Roadshows to Primary and Relief Society President. She was the ward choir director for many years. After their missions, she and Richard taught Primary together and served for 7 years in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. She used her faith and scripture study to find answers and peace. She was not a passive student. When she studied, she studied hard, took notes, and then applied what she learned. Another of her songs was, “Come unto Me.”  Her greatest desire was to strengthen the faith of her family, help them feel God’s love, and help them and others increase their commitment to follow Him.

Annie is survived by her husband, Richard, and their seven children: Linda Beagles (Jim); Mike Jones (Jana); Mary Rowley (Steve); Julie Duerden (Doug); Melody Bandley (Brent); Jared Jones (Kristin); and Leilani Howard (James); 27 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren; sister Elaine Hall and brother Dale Pinegar. She was preceded in death by brother Kenneth Pinegar and sister Lucille Andrus.

We will greatly miss her, but are grateful she is now free from her physical pain and suffering, and reunited with her beloved family who went on before. We also take comfort in reliving fond memories of her life. If you have memories of Annie that you would like to share, we would love to read them.

Funeral Services will be held Saturday, April 9, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. in the Lakeridge 5th Ward Chapel located at 950 S. 50 E., Orem, Utah.

A viewing for friends and family will be held Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sundberg Olpin Mortuary located at 495 South State Street in Orem, and on Saturday just prior to the service from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. at the church.

Burial will be at the Orem City Cemetery.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.

For those unable to attend, you may view the services HERE

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