By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WYOMING - When Sylvia Jones wrote her wishes for her funeral, she asked for a "simple celebration of a blessed life."

"She went out with so much joy," said her daughter, Jennie C. Jones of Brooklyn, N.Y. "She did suffer and she worked hard, but in the end she knew that she was a lucky woman."

A retired export coordinator for Procter & Gamble, Ms. Jones died Saturday of complications of Alzheimer's at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash. The Wyoming resident was 69.

In her job at P&G, she handled the export of raw materials and equipment to affiliates in Venezuela, Peru and other countries.

Ms. Jones also served on black employees support teams and mentored many African-Americans during her 23 years with the company. She received P&G's Diversity Award in 1997.

"She was an extraordinary lady," said co-worker Gloria Edmondson-McCray of Pleasant Run. "If you knew her, you liked her."

While she enjoyed the challenge and travel involved with her work, there was much more to her life.

"She was the hippest mom ever," her daughter said. "She was always an adventurous spirit."

As a child growing up in Walnut Hills, Ms. Jones loved to fish with her father, Francis P. Green. At Withrow High School her usual attire of twin sets, pearls and penny loafers earned her the nickname "Mitzi," which followed her to college and beyond.

After graduation in 1953, she went on to Ohio State, where she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.

"She wrote poetry," her daughter said. "She took yoga for years way before yoga was hip. She meditated and read a lot of philosophical texts."

In 1973, Ms. Jones volunteered to run a math workshop at an early Montessori school. The nuns who ran the school were so impressed that they offered her a paid position as a teacher's assistant.

"She had such a curious, inquisitive personality. She loved seeing the wonder of watching someone learn," her daughter said. "She rediscovered the world by watching children discover it for the first time."

Ms. Jones was a member of the Wyoming Women's Club, where she was involved in raising money for scholarships for young women, and a member of the St. James Bible studies group.

She retired from P&G in 2000.

In addition to her daughter, survivors include two sons, Todd of St. Paul, Minn., and Tony of University Heights; another daughter, Jolie Jones of Wyoming; her mother, Irene Green of Avondale; a sister, Joan Maigur of Wilkes-Barre, Penn.; and five grandchildren.

Visitation is 9:30-10 a.m. today followed by Mass of Christian burial at St. James of the Valley Catholic Church, 411 Springfield Pike in Wyoming. Interment will be at Spring Grove Cemetery.

Memorials: Alzheimer's Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1700, Chicago, IL 60601-7633.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com