Generous Gift Highlights Historic Connection Between Seismologist Lucy Jones’s Family and CST
Claremont School of Theology is deeply grateful for a recent gift from the estate of Dorothy Emma Jones Hartzler (1919–2024). The gift, intended for developing distance learning technology, was presented to the school by Dorothy’s niece, renowned seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones – affectionately known as “the Beyoncé of earthquakes”– and highlights the family’s deep roots with CST.
Dorothy Jones Hartzler, affectionately known as “Aunt Do,” retired to Pilgrim Place in 1988 after years of missionary work in Taiwan and Hong Kong. She chose Pilgrim Place partly because her parents, Francis and Lucile Jones, had also lived there from 1965 to 1975 following their mission work in China. Dr. Jones shared about the family’s desire to be in close proximity to CST:
[Dorothy’s] father, Francis Jones, was still working on the project to translate the Christian classics into Chinese when he retired and wanted to be near the Claremont Colleges and CST for the libraries and the intellectual interaction.
Francis Jones served as a Methodist missionary in China between 1915 and 1951. Remarkably, one of the areas where he worked, Xinghua/Putian, is the same area from which CST Co-President Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan traces his ancestral lineage. He was also a teacher of the renowned Chinese evangelist Dr. John Sung through whom Dr. Kuan’s family became Christians. The connections deepened further: Francis Jones later taught at Drew University, where Dr. Kuan served as Dean from 2011 to 2013.
Dr. Jones recalled her aunt’s reaction to learning about this shared history: “She was thrilled to discover that Dr. Kuan came from the town where she was born when her father was headmaster of the school there.”
Supporting Global Education
The gift from Dorothy’s estate will be specifically used to support online and distance learning technology efforts as CST expands its programs to reach students around the world.
Dr. Jones explained that her aunt had a clear passion for this type of support: Dorothy “was clear that she wanted to support students from China (where she and her parents worked) and Africa (where her late-in-life husband Omar Hartzler had worked) so that they could continue work in those regions.”
Upon learning about CST’s growing distance learning options, Dr. Jones recognized the perfect alignment with her aunt’s wishes.
Dr. Kuan shared with me the work that CST is doing to develop remote learning opportunities for international students. As we talked, I could see how this program was a good fit to Aunt Do’s passion. It supports the church in China that her father had worked to build over 100 years ago. It allows many students to benefit and they are the ones who will be staying in their homes.
The gift is intended to “honor the work of her parents, Francis and Lucile Jones,” who along with Dorothy, “were all deeply committed Christians who saw education and intellectual growth to be a foundation for spiritual growth.”
Dr. Jones highlighted her aunt’s appreciation for technology, remembering how it kept Dorothy connected during the pandemic:
The pandemic shutdown began just after Aunt Do’s 100th birthday… Because we couldn’t visit, I had an iPad delivered to her and the caregivers at Pilgrim Place helped her get on Zoom… She was so happy to be able to see us, see the babies and toddlers of the latest generation, and marveled at the technology of it. I know that the educator in her would be thrilled that this technology could be used to share Christian education around the world.
Looking ahead, Dr. Kuan noted the pioneering role of the school in the field of distance education: “We’ve been a leader in this area, but we have just received a gift to enhance it and are excited about the additional opportunities this creates.”