City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation

Obituary
Mary Frances Jones

Cary, North Carolina

Age 92.
Died 07/05/2023.

Mary Frances Jones
Mary Frances Jones was born on June 16, 1931 in Greene County, NC in her family home. She graduated from Maury High School as Salutatorian and East Carolina College (ECU) with a B.S. degree in Home Economics, where she met the love of her life, Bill Jones. She and Bill lived in Faison and Raleigh before moving to Cary, NC in 1959. With three small children and pregnant with her fourth, she began her teaching career. She was a beloved and respected teacher in Cary. With four children going in many different directions, Mary Frances and Bill never missed a swim meet, dance recital, football or basketball game, or any other school event to support their children. You could not find more loving parents who adored each other and their family. While teaching, and with 3 teenagers still at home, Mary Frances took night classes at NC Central University to earn her Master’s Degree. One goal of Mary Frances was to own a business, and she decided it was time after twenty years of teaching. The first business she owned was a fabric store called “The Sew What Shop”. After a few years, she decided her heart’s desire leaned more toward design, so she opened a decorating business and drapery workroom appropriately named, “Style & Charm”. For the next 35 years, she worked in homes all over North Carolina. When she got a call from Jenny Fitch, owner of newly-started Fearrington Village, her career went to a different level. Not only did she decorate for their restaurants, shops and hotel, but also for numerous homeowners moving there. She was a true Southern lady and became fast friends with everyone she met, no matter their social status. Her last job as a decorator was furnishing the window blinds at Searstone Retirement Community. She retired and closed her business at the age of 83, so she could spend more time with her beloved husband.
Mary Frances left her earthly life on July 5, 2023 and is preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, William A. “Bill” Jones, her parents, Mack and Ethel Jones, brothers, Edwin Earl and Johnny Mack Jones, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Cecil Heath and Evelyn Jones. Mary Frances is survived by her children: Barry Nugent (Susan) of Louisville, KY, Pamela Richardson (Tim) of Pearland, TX, Clay Jones of Cary, NC, Karen Lewis of Erwin, NC, Brad Jones (Mary) of Port St. Lucie, FL, grandchildren: Angie Wolf (Jeff), Connie Lewis, David Jones, Robbie Lewis, Heather Jones and great-grandchildren: Shelby Rosel, Hannah Wolf, Jaylan Burton, Dylan Burton, Cayla Lewis, Michael Cline, Evan Jones, Kaylin Lewis, Aryn Lewis, Ashton Bulmahn, her siblings: Jackie Heath, Jerry Day (John), Ann Jones, and Bobbie Cumberworth (Terry), and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mary Frances dearly loved her children and their spouses, siblings, and especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She lived a long and eventful life, full of adventures and she met all of the life goals she set for herself.
Her memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 15th at First Cary United Methodist Church 117 Academy St., Cary, NC. Donations in her honor can be made to Transitions Life Care, www.transitionslifecare.org, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org, or Habitat for Humanity, www.habitat.org.

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


You can share this obituary using the following address, or click the button below to share on Facebook.

City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.

Our Services

icon
Direct Cremation

$1196.75

Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.

icon
Cremation with Solidified Remains

$2875.66

We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.

icon
Cremation with Visitation

$1917.84

City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.

icon
Immediate Burial

$2497.50

An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.

icon
Traditional Funeral

$6081.48

We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.

icon
Green Burial

$3033.75

This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.

icon
Aquamation

$2640.59

As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.

City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations