Hazel Jones Medlock

Hazel Jones Medlock, a native of Clarkston, GA, died April 27, 2012. She was 97. She was the daughter of Henry Alpheus and Mary Edith Keheley Jones of Clarkston. A gifted gardener, Mrs. Medlock kept most of three acres on Northern Avenue green with wide varieties of roses, hostas, figs, quinces and variegated grasses. When asked where this or that plant came from, she'd often shrug and say, "Oh, that's a volunteer." She gladly shared cuttings and transplants with admirers of her greenery. She finished all eleven grades and graduated from Clarkston High School now the Clarkston Community Center in 1931. Hazel said she loved every job she held: a finishing worker at Atlanta's American Hat Company, the first secretary for Laurel Ridge Elementary School in DeKalb County, a regular poll worker for decades and receptionist in the Emory University Hospital Radiology Department. Her husband of 59 years, James Wade Medlock, Jr., of Virginia-Highland, whom she met on a blind date, died of cancer in 1994. Known affectionately as Memaw, Hazel was a family historian, a cook whose prizes were pecan pie, salmon croquettes and broccoli bread, and a teacher of gardening and common sense to her son, daughter-in law, her granddaughters, and such a cloud of friends and relations. She was a member of then-Clarkston Baptist Church and Druid Hills Baptist Church. Hazel was preceded in death by her sister Kathleen Jones Cope and brother Aubrey Maurice Jones, both of Clarkston. She is survived by her son, James Wade Medlock, III and wife Sherrill Terry of Avondale Estates; granddaughter Meghan Cobleigh Medlock and great-granddaughter Violet Adelaide Revelou Medlock both of Brooklyn, NY; granddaughter Alyce Caitlin Medlock Spencer and husband Matthew of Greensboro, NC; and scores of nieces and nephews, most of whom still live in the Atlanta area, and would likely amen her description of her days: "I lived a simple life." Visitation followed by her funeral will be held Saturday, May 5, starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Stone Mountain Chapel of Wages and Sons, 1040 Main Street, Stone Mountain, GA 30083. Burial will follow at Melwood Cemetery, Stone Mountain. In lieu of flowers, Hazel Medlock asked that donations be directed to the Clarkston Community Center, 3701 College Avenue, Clarkston, GA 30021 or via www.clarkstoncommunitycenter.org, click "donate" and include Hazel Medlock's name in the "purpose" line. The family takes comfort in her oft-repeated declaration, "Time marches on."