Coralie Runyon Jones

Coralie Runyon Jones, 99, died on March 13 in Owensboro, Kentucky, after a brief illness. Jones was born on July 5, 1921, in Bowling Green. She was the daughter of Constance Coralie Barrington and Loton Brody Jones, prominent attorney and Presbyterian minister.

Jones was a legendary choral music director and educator, celebrated throughout the state for her more than 60-year career. Her many students have carried on her legacy with their own stellar teaching careers. She also developed and encouraged amazing piano accompanists for her groups.

Jones graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Western Kentucky University in 1941 and earned a master's degree in 1944. She started her teaching career at Orangeburg Elementary School in Mason County when she was just 20 years old.

Her success there led to her bring hired by the Maysville School System in 1942.

She married Maysville optometrist Harold Ezekiel Runyon in 1942 and they enjoyed many years together until his death in 1975. They were parents to Randolph Paul and Constance Coralie. Jones later was married to the late Earle D. Jones from 1979-98.

After staying  home to raise her children, Jones resumed her career in Ripley, Ohio, in 1954. She developed an outstanding choral music program there.  A highlight was the group's selection to represent Ohio at the Music Educator's National Convention in Chicago. She was next hired in 1960 by the Mason County School System and continued there until retiring in 1982.

It was at Mason County that she honed her skills. She became known for her exacting professional choral standards and her students rose to the occasion. Students who had never known what classical music was were soon able to confidently sing choral masterworks by composers including Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, Bach, and Poulenc.

Jones groups regularly took more than 35 superior ratings at contests of the Kentucky Music Educators National Convention, were invited to sing at state and national events, and travelled for three different tours to Europe, including the 1968 American Festival in Britain and as one of only nine choirs selected for the International Association for Cultural Exchange in Vienna. She also led a string program at the school.

Jones received many accolades from these achievements, including being named a Kentucky Teacher of the Year in 1982. In 2005 the Coralie Runyon Jones Music Library was established at the Mason County Public Library in her honor.

Runyon was also widely involved in the community. She was a member of the First Christian Church, serving as director of music, deacon, elder and chair of the board. She co-authored "A History of the Christian Church, Maysville, Kentucky" (1948, revised and updated 2011).

She was musical director for Maysville Players productions, arranged benefit concerts, and taught many, many private students in voice, piano and strings. She founded and directed the Limestone Youth Orchestra, taught at the Maysville Community College, and founded the Downing School of Music. She founded the Civic Chorus early in her Maysville years and later was known for her work with the Limestone Chorale. These many activities enriched the cultural life of Maysville and will always be remembered.

After retiring from public school teaching, she taught a whole new generation of students at St. Patrick School and also directed the choir at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.

Jones was a generous and enthusiastic person. She enjoyed a rich social life, was a great cook, and hosted memorable dinner parties. She enjoyed travel and played a mean bridge hand well into her 90s. She attracted supporters and benefactors for her students and choirs through sheer force of will. Best of all she loved her students, a theme elaborated in her memoir, "Brighten Your Corner" (2006).

Runyon moved to Owensboro to be closer to her daughter in 2011. Even there, she started a choral group at her new residence, One Park Place, and regularly attended the Owensboro First Christian Church.

Jones is survived by her son Randy and wife Elizabeth (Smart) Runyon, Paris, Ky; daughter Connie and husband Mick Ford, Owensboro; grandchildren Catherine (Tom) Ford Claycomb, Hodgenville, Hillary (Jared) Krieg, Evansville, Ind., Ezekiel (Rebecca Eiseman) Runyon of San Francisco, Calif. and Augusta Runyon, Paris.

She is also survived by delightful great-grandsons that gave her much pleasure, Peyton and Jones Claycomb and Ramsey Krieg.

A private service will be held with her family at the Maysville Cemetery. A celebration of Jones' life and legacy will be planned later in 2021. Donations in her memory may be made to the First Christian Church, 18 East Third St., Maysville, KY 41056. Arrangements are entrusted to the Knox and Brothers Funeral Home. Condolences at knoxbrothersfuneralhome.com