Teacher Was Concerned About Contracting Covid And Put In For Retirement But Contracted Covid19 Before Date She Has Now Died

Maude Jones, a special education paraprofessional at Rock Springs Elementary School, was growing more worried over Thanksgiving break as she watched the news, her daughter said. Many people were traveling for the holiday and experts were predicting an imminent spike in cases of the coronavirus.

So Jones, 64, submitted paperwork to retire from Gwinnett County Public Schools after Dec. 18, the last day of the semester.

But the coronavirus moved faster. Jones was sent home to quarantine Dec. 7 after another teacher tested positive, said Nyenneh Jones, her 38-year-old daughter. A few days later, Maude Jones tested positive and her condition worsened. She was hospitalized Dec. 16 and died Jan. 4 of COVID-19 at Northside Hospital Gwinnett, her daughter said.

“She was a very lively person,” said Jones, who lives near her mother’s home in Lawrenceville. “She was happy all the time. …She loved the children she worked with. Her work was so important to her.”

Maude Jones is also survived by two adult sons, Henry and Togar Jones of Lawrenceville, nine grandchildren, three siblings and many extended relatives in Lawrenceville and around the world.