ILWACO – After four years on the board, the last year of which spent as the vice-chairwoman, Cheri Jones hung up her school board hat earlier this month, saying it was just the right time for her and her family.

“In the last four years I’ve gained two daughter-in-laws and three grandchildren, and next year I’m gaining a son-in-law and having a daughter graduate from WSU (Washington State University),” she said last week. “I didn’t feel that I could commit to another four years and I don’t want to get started part way in and have to resign.”

So when her term of office ran out this fall, she decided against running again. But even before that, Jones had doubts that she would make it through the four years she did serve. Not only did she have the aforementioned things happening in her life, but she was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease three years ago.

“It hasn’t really slowed me up, I actually did try to resign and Ed (Guelfi) said ‘No, you’re not going to quit,'” she said. “I didn’t want to be a quitter, but I wasn’t sure I could get through the four years, and I feel really good that I could.”

Jones did take a few months off last year but was back again by the summer. She said she read an article written by Michael J. Fox, who also has Parkinson’s, and was inspired by what he had to say.

“This disease changes you and you have to learn where your priorities are,” she said. “I’m trying to reestablish where my priorities are and my biggest priority is my family. I felt now was a good time. I think that the district is doing great.”

As board chairman Guelfi said in a recent interview about his resigning to move back to New York, Jones too feels comfortable with the hands the board will now be in. But while Guelfi will be moving far away, Jones will remain here in town, living in Ilwaco, working at the district fire station in Ocean Park, and she thinks there is potential for her to stay somewhat involved with what’s going on in the school district, as time allows.

“I’d like to stay involved, but with shorter-termed projects,” she said, noting that Superintendent Rainer Houser has already asked her to be a part of the district’s strategic planning process. “I said I’d be willing to do that – after Christmas.”

She said that is actually how she originally came to be involved in the school board. She was very much involved from a community support side in the bond effort prior to the one that passed, as well as with the Ilwaco Sports Boosters. Two of her three kids graduated from Ilwaco High School, one was in her senior year when Jones ran for office in 2001.

Jones said that leaving will be hard because she has “thoroughly enjoyed every minute” of her time on the board.

“I’m really proud of everything the school district and the board have accomplished,” Jones said.

Jones admitted that she was not anxious for it to be over, saying that in this last year she feels as though she has found her stride on the board and had started to gain enough knowledge and learn all the things she needed to be aware of.

“I really admire the people I have worked with,” she said with praise for her former co-workers. “Kristi (Unruh) was a huge benefit on the board, because she was very familiar with district policy. Kim (Patten) has a lot of knowledge and is very intelligent. I really liked working with Jim Sayce. I used to always say that he made us think about things in different ways. Ed’s just been an exceptional leader.”

And just as Jones looked to those people when she started, others have looked to her for guidance in the beginning, including Marilyn Sheldon. And while Jones said she had yet to have any real conversations with Kris Kaino, who replaced Jones at last Monday’s meeting, about the position and her experiences, she said that she does think that his profession (as a municipal court judge in Clatsop County) will lend itself well to his new seat.

“The board will definitely be different because there are so many new people, but they each have their strengths,” she said. “The important thing is that they work together. And they can agree to disagree sometimes.”

As for the legacy that she leaves behind, Jones agrees with what Guelfi had said about how history will tell if she was a good school board representative or not. She will always be a member of the board that got the “impossible” bond passed.

“I can appreciate that,” she said. “Everyday when I drive by Ocean Park School I appreciate this community and the fact that they could see the same vision that we did. For a small community, it always amazes me the way they support schools and students.”