Lucille “Lue” Jones moved to Lafayette at age 6 in 1927. Her father came here to work on building the Lafayette Reservoir. In this interview she shares memories of growing up in Lafayette at that time and of Carrie Van Meter, the town librarian, who would always tell you what book you were going to read next. Lue’s husband, Orville Jones, was a descendant of Lafayette’s original blacksmith, Peter Thompson. Lue was an active volunteer at Mt. Diablo/John Muir Hospital and the Friends of the Lafayette Library Bookshop.
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Lue was my neighbor on Las Trampas Road – and a lifelong friend. It was so nice to hear her voice again here. She loved the town, was very proud to have been a part of its history. I would have loved for her to talk about her own time as an adult. We all knew everyone on the street. People’s doors were open. Literally. One day my pet duck wandered into Lue’s house and cornered her in a hallway (Ralph wasn’t the friendliest duck in the world).
Lue was an artist. She let me use her paints, gave me a canvas. Her door was open to every kid on the street if they were interested. I spent every Sunday night at her house watching Walt Disney’s “Wonderful World of Color”, in part because she had a color TV, but also because she enjoyed the shows as much as I did. Much later in life, when I was grown and had two kids and lived in Massachusetts, she flew to join us in DisneyWorld. And she was just the same – she loved the wholesome stories. She loved time with children.
Lue apologizes at the end of this interview for being too negative. I never saw her that way. She asked a lot of questions. She’d had a hard childhood compared to me – and it troubled her how much kids in my generation had but didn’t appreciate. She’d lived through the Depression and WWII. We would talk about how much fun you could have with next to nothing in your pocket. She was basically a very positive person – but she wanted folks she encountered to know how lucky they were to have bountiful lives.
Neighbors and neighborhoods aren’t like that anymore, at least, not the ones where I raised my kids. How many people today know the names of all 52 families living on their street? People are too busy. But I know I was lucky – lucky to live on Las Trampas, and lucky that Lue and her family lived right up the street.
Lue gave me her time. She gave a lot of people her time. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Lue was her volunteer work. I think she volunteered for over 70,000 hours. I’m serious. Who does that now? Who’s that selfless now? I hope there are people of that character.
For me, Lue was one of a kind, though. Her artwork graces my house, my son’s house. I think of her, always. Thank you for preserving a tiny part of her life story!