Connie Jones Cameron Obituary (1938

“To love another person is to see the face of God.” Connie Jones Cameron, a lover of music (and musicals), loved deeply. She loved us, and she knew God. We love her and we see God in her being ours. Connie was born on November 29, 1938, and passed away on March 30, 2020. Her life, full of friendship, service, family, and adventure, began and ended in Provo, Utah. Sports were a fixture in her well-lived life. As a bold and determined young girl, she chose to play on the boys’ baseball team since there was no girls’ team. She was a ski instructor while still in high school at Provo High. Soon after graduation, she and a girlfriend boarded a bus to Hollywood, California, later taking jobs in Washington, D.C. and New York City. She was a talented musician. In college, she was a member of an all-female group – “The Downbeats” – recording covers of hits like “My Funny Valentine” and “Mister Wonderful.” She played the guitar and piano. She sang and insisted that we sing, too – always and everywhere. Music brought her immense joy and was a lifelong pursuit. She directed choirs, wrote, produced, and directed Road Shows, performed in and directed seasonal music presentations, and sang in countless choirs and Master Chorale performances. In the early 1970s, she produced a weekly public access television show in Palm Springs and worked for many years on the production of television game shows, including “Name That Tune.” Connie loved to learn. She attended Brigham Young University and received a Master of Arts from California State University, San Bernardino in Education Counseling. Perhaps her greatest professional fulfillment came from her work as an educator and counselor at College of the Desert, helping her students succeed. Connie championed those overlooked or underserved in her community. She organized international goodwill amateur athletic exchanges in the Far East, Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. She was instrumental in organizing celebrity tennis tournaments in Southern California to benefit local intellectually disabled children. Since retiring in 2005, Connie loved to travel, especially to Italy, the home of her favorite musician (Andrea Bocelli). She loved puzzles, golf, the theater, Sundance, and Lake Powell. To everyone she knew, but especially to her grandkids, she was a loyal (and raucous) cheerleader and confidant. She cherished her golfing buddies, tennis buddies, travel buddies, high school and college friends, and most of all, her little sister, Linda Jones Cook. One of Connie’s greatest blessings was getting to live only a few streets away from Linda, with whom many adventures, hard times, and celebrations were shared. More than anything, Connie loved her family, and her greatest joys were connected to her four children (with Stanley Eccles Cameron) – Stanley Eccles Jr. (Catherine Elaine Cravens), Alisa Jo, Kelly Alfred (Melanie Fillmore), and Michael David (Ariane Alayne Hall) – and to her 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. With her family, she loved to go to movies, to cheer for her kids and grandkids at games, and most of all, to sit and talk and laugh. Even laundry became a joy when her grandchildren came to visit from BYU. Her home was a place of refuge and peace for so many. Her deep love, her fun personality, and her faith in Christ and commitment to the restored gospel gave strength to all who entered her home. Often, she cried as she hugged and kissed her family goodbye. Everyone who left Connie’s home left knowing they were loved. She will be dearly missed, but the reunion with her daughter, parents, sister, and other loved ones must surely have been sweet. We express our deep appreciation for neighbors, friends, extended family, and the physicians, nurses, and other support staff who cared for Connie with kindness, good humor, and skill. Drs. Todd Cook and John Staheli (and their staffs) were angels in her eyes, and ours. Given the current circumstances, a memorial celebration is expected to take place this summer. Condolences may be expressed at www.bergmortuary.com.