At 94, Shirley Jones steps down from job on UA event staff
17 at 8:00 AM
Shirley Jones was born on October 15, 1923.
She is 94 years old.
She stands all of, maybe, 5-feet, and has the kind of smile that melts hearts. No one is a stranger. She greets a newcomer, and everyone she knows, with a hug.
And, her son, Frank Jones, declares without prejudice, that Shirley is his best worker, in a sea of good workers. Her work? Event security.
Shirley Jones was in her 80s when she began, yes, began, what would become, she said, the best job she ever undertook. For nearly a decade, Shirley has worked on the event staff for University of Alabama home football games at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Frank Jones works as a gate captain on the East tower of the stadium, Gate 33. His wife, Dot Jones, is also on the event staff. “We thought it would be good for her,” said Dot Jones, who, with Frank thought it would be a good way for her mother-in-law to stay active.
“It’s not really a hard job. She’s sitting in a chair. But she’s always standing up and hugging somebody, so she doesn’t do a lot of sitting,” said Frank Jones.
“I just liked everybody,” Shirley said, matter-of-factly.
Shirley and her husband moved to Tuscaloosa in the 1940s, though now, because of her health, she splits time with Frank and Dot in Tuscaloosa and her daughter, Rhonda Kaye Thomas, in Macon, Ga.
“I have always cheered for Alabama,” Shirley Jones said.
She was stationed on the second floor of the stadium, the Scholarship Club level.
“I keep people from going to the Scholarship Club who aren’t supposed to,” she said. “The first day I did it, I really was amazed. I really and truly acted like I was a cheerleader. I had never been to an Alabama game before. I was on the second floor, by the scholarship floor, and I was there to keep them from going up to the skybox and stuff. I had a good time. I just loved it. Seeing all the people at each game, I felt loved, and I had a good time. It’s been one of the most enjoyable times of my life.”
She was always very good at her job. Sometimes, maybe a little too good.
“Oh, I hate to tell this story,” Shirley Jones said, as both Frank and Dot start smiling, knowing exactly the confession she was about to make.
A gentleman, his wife and a couple of their kids came up through the stairwell. They didn’t have the proper credentials.
Shirley stopped them cold.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Do you know who I am?’ I said, ‘Yes, you work for the Chevrolet company.’”
She was partly right. The man did commercials for a car dealership. He also quarterbacked the University of Alabama to the 1992 national championship. It was Jay Barker and his wife, Nashville recording artist Sara Evans.
“I told him, ‘The university is paying me, not you.’ I was only trying to do my job. I didn’t know he was the quarterback, but they weren’t supposed to be there. It was my job to keep people out who weren’t supposed to be there, and I was just doing my job.”
The Barkers, hugely popular among Alabama fans, were likely just trying to move through the stadium to their seats without being mobbed by fans.
For every story about those who tried to get past her, there are three-fold stories of those who looked forward each week to seeing her, the couple who’d just learned they were going to have a baby who told her they couldn’t wait to see her to tell her their news, the parents whose son planned to go to Auburn but told her, ‘he loves you so much he’s decided to go to Alabama,’” said Shirley Jones.
She’s received oranges, by mail, from some of her regulars who live in Orlando.
“People bring her little gifts all the time,” said Dot Jones.
Her days were long. She worked 7-8 hour shifts. If she missed a game, Frank Jones said he’d get inquiries checking on her health. Her health has been failing a little in the last two years, so much so that she worked sporadically last season and only one game this season, the Oct. 21 home game against Tennessee.
“We’d decided last year would be her last season working,” said Frank Jones, “but so many people kept asking about her this season that we decided we’d bring her back for one more game so she could say ‘goodbye.’”
“It was a happy day,” said Shirley Jones. “Actually, I never intended to have it. I thought I had already worked my last game. This was a bonus. People hugged me, shook hands, high-fived me -- it was just a really good time.”
She’s been a fan favorite, and a favorite among her co-workers who often run by to say “hello” before dashing off to their jobs at the stadium.
Shirley Jones said she was surprised, and somewhat delighted, her son and daughter-in-law suggested she start working games in the first place all those years ago.
“I just thought it would be nice to go,” said Shirley Jones. “Breaking into it was easy because I got along with the people who work in the kitchen. I got along with all the employees. They are such good people. They’d give me some of the flowers that were left on the tables after lunch time. I’d take them to church to give to the shut-ins. It just worked out really nice for me. I was just blessed. I’ve always been blessed.”
Said Dot Jones, “It gave her a purpose. And she was the best worker we had. She lever left her post.”
“It was very rewarding working with her, even as her boss. She was always on her post, always on her job. It’s been really special, the way people have embraced her,” said Frank Jones.
“It was the most enjoyment I’ve ever had,” said Shirley Jon
17 at 8:00 AM
Shirley Jones was born on October 15, 1923.
She is 94 years old.
She stands all of, maybe, 5-feet, and has the kind of smile that melts hearts. No one is a stranger. She greets a newcomer, and everyone she knows, with a hug.
And, her son, Frank Jones, declares without prejudice, that Shirley is his best worker, in a sea of good workers. Her work? Event security.
Shirley Jones was in her 80s when she began, yes, began, what would become, she said, the best job she ever undertook. For nearly a decade, Shirley has worked on the event staff for University of Alabama home football games at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Frank Jones works as a gate captain on the East tower of the stadium, Gate 33. His wife, Dot Jones, is also on the event staff. “We thought it would be good for her,” said Dot Jones, who, with Frank thought it would be a good way for her mother-in-law to stay active.
“It’s not really a hard job. She’s sitting in a chair. But she’s always standing up and hugging somebody, so she doesn’t do a lot of sitting,” said Frank Jones.
“I just liked everybody,” Shirley said, matter-of-factly.
Shirley and her husband moved to Tuscaloosa in the 1940s, though now, because of her health, she splits time with Frank and Dot in Tuscaloosa and her daughter, Rhonda Kaye Thomas, in Macon, Ga.
“I have always cheered for Alabama,” Shirley Jones said.
She was stationed on the second floor of the stadium, the Scholarship Club level.
“I keep people from going to the Scholarship Club who aren’t supposed to,” she said. “The first day I did it, I really was amazed. I really and truly acted like I was a cheerleader. I had never been to an Alabama game before. I was on the second floor, by the scholarship floor, and I was there to keep them from going up to the skybox and stuff. I had a good time. I just loved it. Seeing all the people at each game, I felt loved, and I had a good time. It’s been one of the most enjoyable times of my life.”
She was always very good at her job. Sometimes, maybe a little too good.
“Oh, I hate to tell this story,” Shirley Jones said, as both Frank and Dot start smiling, knowing exactly the confession she was about to make.
A gentleman, his wife and a couple of their kids came up through the stairwell. They didn’t have the proper credentials.
Shirley stopped them cold.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Do you know who I am?’ I said, ‘Yes, you work for the Chevrolet company.’”
She was partly right. The man did commercials for a car dealership. He also quarterbacked the University of Alabama to the 1992 national championship. It was Jay Barker and his wife, Nashville recording artist Sara Evans.
“I told him, ‘The university is paying me, not you.’ I was only trying to do my job. I didn’t know he was the quarterback, but they weren’t supposed to be there. It was my job to keep people out who weren’t supposed to be there, and I was just doing my job.”
The Barkers, hugely popular among Alabama fans, were likely just trying to move through the stadium to their seats without being mobbed by fans.
For every story about those who tried to get past her, there are three-fold stories of those who looked forward each week to seeing her, the couple who’d just learned they were going to have a baby who told her they couldn’t wait to see her to tell her their news, the parents whose son planned to go to Auburn but told her, ‘he loves you so much he’s decided to go to Alabama,’” said Shirley Jones.
She’s received oranges, by mail, from some of her regulars who live in Orlando.
“People bring her little gifts all the time,” said Dot Jones.
Her days were long. She worked 7-8 hour shifts. If she missed a game, Frank Jones said he’d get inquiries checking on her health. Her health has been failing a little in the last two years, so much so that she worked sporadically last season and only one game this season, the Oct. 21 home game against Tennessee.
“We’d decided last year would be her last season working,” said Frank Jones, “but so many people kept asking about her this season that we decided we’d bring her back for one more game so she could say ‘goodbye.’”
“It was a happy day,” said Shirley Jones. “Actually, I never intended to have it. I thought I had already worked my last game. This was a bonus. People hugged me, shook hands, high-fived me -- it was just a really good time.”
She’s been a fan favorite, and a favorite among her co-workers who often run by to say “hello” before dashing off to their jobs at the stadium.
Shirley Jones said she was surprised, and somewhat delighted, her son and daughter-in-law suggested she start working games in the first place all those years ago.
“I just thought it would be nice to go,” said Shirley Jones. “Breaking into it was easy because I got along with the people who work in the kitchen. I got along with all the employees. They are such good people. They’d give me some of the flowers that were left on the tables after lunch time. I’d take them to church to give to the shut-ins. It just worked out really nice for me. I was just blessed. I’ve always been blessed.”
Said Dot Jones, “It gave her a purpose. And she was the best worker we had. She lever left her post.”
“It was very rewarding working with her, even as her boss. She was always on her post, always on her job. It’s been really special, the way people have embraced her,” said Frank Jones.
“It was the most enjoyment I’ve ever had,” said Shirley Jon
