MIDDLETOWN, Ojio (May 15, 2021) - On April 11, 2021, United Way's Middletown Area center lost one of its staunchest champions: Anita Scott Jones. Since moving from Alabama to Middletown in 2000, she helped make the city a better place.

Her efforts to improve the community led her to serve on the Action Council of United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Middletown Area. She was an active donor and volunteer with United Way, and she served as a committee chair for the organization’s 2019 campaign. Scott Jones also was a trusted advisor and mentor to many in the community. She left an indelible impact on UWGC Middletown director Terry Sherrer.

“Anita was a true friend of the Middletown Area United Way, and she was also my friend,” Sherrer said. “Anita strongly supported the impact work of the Middletown Area United Way. Yet, she always wanted us to find ways to have a greater impact. I miss my friend, yet I will never forget her.”

Scott Jones served on Middletown City Council from 2007 through 2014—including holding the post of vice mayor in 2009-2010—and was the first directly elected Black woman to do so. While in office, she worked to modernize outdated infrastructure, provided opportunities for better-paying jobs, and pushed for economic improvements in Middletown.

What’s more, she threw herself into community service work, helping countless people. “When she got transplanted here from Alabama, Middletown gained an incredible ambassador of hope,” the Rev. Lamar Ferrell, her pastor at Berachah Church, told the Dayton Daily News. Her community work earned her the Robert “Sonny” Hill Humanitarian Award in 2019.

Scott Jones was employed by Primary Health Solutions. She previously was director of hospital relations for Atrium Medical Center.

While the loss is felt deeply by those she mentored and uplifted, the lasting social and economic changes she spearheaded in the community will endure. We honor Anita Scott Jones and her commitment to what it meant to Live United.