Emadair Jones

Emadair Chase Jones, 103, of Ruidoso and Las Cruces, died July 15, 2019. Born April 7, 1916 as Emma Adair Chase at Hotel Del Norte in El Paso to Clarence Cornell “C.C.” Chase and Alexina Fall Chase, Emadair spent much of her youth with her grandparents, Albert Bacon “A.B.” Fall and Emma Morgan Fall at their homes in El Paso and at Three Rivers Ranch in New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin. Emadair’s grandfather, A.B. Fall, was a legendary figure and lawyer in New Mexico’s territorial and early statehood history. She defended his legacy to his critics and asserted his innocence broadly.

Emadair’s siblings, Marina Alexina Chase, Albert B. Fall Chase, William Greene Chase, and C.C. Chase Jr., preceded her in death. Her brothers Albert and William each perished in WWII.

While living with A.B. and Emma Morgan Fall in El Paso, Emadair attended the Radford School for Girls, served as her grandmother’s chauffeur, and graduated from El Paso High School. At 25, she moved to Washington, DC, where she worked a civil service job as a stenographer. During World War II, Emadair earned a maritime commission and transferred to the Army, a role that resulted in her having been among the first people to work in the newly built Pentagon.

Her father’s poor health in 1945 resulted in Emadair’s release from her commission and service in The Pentagon. She returned to New Mexico where she met her husband, Tom W. Jones Jr., and became the first City Clerk of Ruidoso. Emadair received her real estate broker’s license in 1950 and in 1954 earned appointment to the Ruidoso Hospital Board, an appointment she held for 40 years.

As real estate brokers, she and her husband headed The Ruidoso Realty company that helped develop and market Ruidoso real estate.

Emadair is survived by her children, Tom William Jones III and his wife, Vicki, of Andrews, Tx.; Laura Alexina Farmer of Las Cruces; and Lea Ann Jones and her husband, J.D. Edwards, of Las Cruces and High Rolls, N.Mex. She is also survived by four grandchildren, Homer William “Bill” Hawkins and his wife, Regina Hawkins, of New Delhi, India; Amy Hawkins and her husband, Brendan O’Reilly, of Albuquerque; Casie Jones and her husband, Ronnie Gall, of Dallas, Tex.; Kelly Jones and her husband, Chad Mapp, of Fort Collins, Colo.; and three great-grandchildren, Reilly Hawkins of New Delhi, India; Keti Hawkins of New Delhi, India; and Alexina Jones Mapp of Fort Collins, Colo.

Emadair valued integrity, compassion, truthfulness, and aide to the less fortunate. When asked her expectations of her children she said, “they choose what’s right for them, which is right with me.” Emadair loved animals and nature.  She was an avid amateur photographer and was constantly learning new things.  Her character brings to mind a quotation from Mark Twain, her favorite author: “With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”

In a life that saw her as a courageous, trailblazing woman, in the 1970s Emadair worked for the Ruidoso News’s “Society-Circulation” section and wrote a column, “Between Nosotros.” She provided several thousand hours service as an auxiliary member of the Lincoln County Medical Center, the “Pink Ladies,” and served as the auxiliary’s President from 1989 to 1990. Emadair also served as a member of the Ruidoso Library Board and the Republican Women’s Party, was active in the historical society of both Lincoln County and Dona Ana County, and for longer than 30 years congregated with the First Christian Church of Ruidoso.

A graveside service will be held Friday, July 26, 2019 at 3 p.m. at Forest Lawn Cemetery on Mechem Drive in Ruidoso, where she will be laid to rest alongside her late-husband.