Audrey Jones Lau

Audrey Jones Lau passed peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends at Munson Medical Center on October 22, 2024.

Life for Audrey began on November 26, 1928 in Detroit, Michigan as Eleanor Audrey Jones, daughter to Percy and Ethel Jones. She graduated from MacKenzie High School in Detroit and soon after married Harold W. Lau in 1949, completing their family with two children, Valkerie and John.

Audrey found herself as the sole bread winner and parent after her husband sustained a traumatic head injury as a Detroit police officer. With the support of her parents, she earned her nursing degree at the Henry Ford Community College and began working at Chrysler as an industrial nurse. After remarrying, Audrey and her children relocated to northern Michigan to continue her work as a nurse at the Osteopathic Hospital in Traverse City, Michigan, where she eventually became the Assistant Director of Nurses. While working, Audrey returned to college to complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ferris State University.

During retirement, Audrey enjoyed traveling in the U.S and abroad. Her journeys often took her to Las Vegas, where she and friends (dressed "to the nines") frequented the casinos and shows (especially to see "Old Blue Eyes"). An active member of the Business Professional Women, Audrey was a BPW member and served as president. Audrey also filled her time with playing Euchre, leading chair aerobics and attending lunches at Sacred Heart Church and helping the local casinos stay in business. For the last 5 years, she was a resident of the Grand Traverse Pavilions, in Traverse City, Michigan, where she lived until her death.

Audrey was preceded in death by her parents Percy and Ethel (Long) Jones, brother Roland Jones, sister-in-law Jacqueline Jones, grandson Andrew Bussa, nephew Dale Jones, and husbands Harold Lau and Dick Jacobi.

Audrey is survived by her children Val (Valkerie) Rozema (Dean Eckstein) and John (Kathleen) Lau; grandchildren Joshua Lau (Sarah Komara), Anna (David) Gailey; step-daughter Debbie (Chris) Ripple, step-son Dick (Cindy) Jacobi and many nieces and nephews and their children.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution in the memory of Audrey Lau to:
Meals on Wheels, Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency, 3963 Three Mile Road, Traverse City, MI 49686 or Grand Traverse County Commission on Aging, 1615 Park Drive, Traverse City, MI 49686.

There will be a gathering of celebration at the Sacred Heart Social Hall on Saturday, November 16, 2024 from 1pm – 3pm. Audrey will be buried next to her parents at the Garfield Township Cemetery in Fife Lake, MI. The family is being compassionately cared for by Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home of Traverse City.