Merceditas Jones Memorial and Homecoming Fund

Hello all, my name is Aishah Jones. My beloved mother, Merceditas Jones, passed away on 11/07/2023 at 11:04AM after a lifelong battle with respiratory disease, the most severe of which was bronchiectasis. She leaves behind myself and my younger sister here in America; a son, sister, brother, mother, and grandchildren in the Philippines; and many more friends and extended family who cared for her greatly.

Only 55 years old, mama had such an inspiring and infectious lust for life that never dimmed even during the worst times of her disease. She loved walking at the Potomac River Waterfront, driving through Shenandoah Park, gardening, cooking, singing, shopping, sewing, and overall enjoying life to the absolute best of her ability.

There were, of course, many things she wanted to do that she wasn't able to before she passed. She wanted to go to a Bruno Mars concert, wanted to visit Clearwater Beach one more time, wanted to start a business where she could drive around selling handbags from a van (she would call it Bag-in-a-Van; trademark pending). The greatest and most precious of her dreams was to return home to the Philippines to spend time with her family.

Unfortunately, due to her severe health issues, this was not meant to be.

Although she wasn't able to return home in life, it is my and my family's deepest desire to grant mama's final wish and lay her to rest in her home country alongside her late father and younger brother.

We are planning to have a memorial service for mama here in America before transporting her back to the Philippines. There she will be received by a funeral home in her hometown, given another service, and finally buried. The funeral home in America with whom I've entrusted my mother will handle the details of communicating with the Philippine embassy and airlines, but the cost of these services are in addition to those of a standard memorial service. The funeral home in the Philippines requires payment to display and retouch her body, and also to open and close her grave.

Almighty God has blessed me to have a steady and well-paying job, so I am prepared to incur the debt needed to send mama home even if it means spending the next decade paying it back. Nonetheless, help in absolutely any amount would be deeply appreciated, and please know that you will have the eternal thanks of myself, my sister, the rest of our family, and most of all my late mother for your help in bringing her home.

Thank you for reading, and even if you are unable to donate, it would be greatly appreciated if you could please share this page and our story.

May you be blessed always,

Aishah