Mrs. Dorothy Jean Wilder

Dorothy Jean Jones Wilder, affectionately known to all as Mama Dot, passed peacefully on December 14, 2025 surrounded by love. She was born to Eugene and Mattie Watson on 9/26/1944 in Sandhill, MS. She was the oldest of 8 kids. Mama Dot was the kind of woman who made everyone feel loved-truly loved. Her love language was feeding people, and if you ever sat at her table, you left full in every sense of the word. Cooking for others wasn't just something she did; it was how she cared, how she welcomed, and how she showed love. She was an avid outdoorswoman who found joy and peace in God's creation. She loved fishing, tending to her garden, and planting flowers-always making sure beauty was growing wherever she was. Her home was a place of warmth and gathering, often filled with the sound of the blues, laughter, and conversation. Mama Dot loved to entertain, and being in her presence felt like being wrapped in comfort. Above all, Mama Dot loved her family deeply. She cherished every one of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, holding each close to her heart. To them, she was a source of unconditional love, wisdom, and steady reassurance. She was also their safety, saving them from many belts and switches in their parents hands. She was a true matriarch whose influence will live on through generations. Mama Dot loved the Lord and accepted Christ as her Savior. She lived her faith not by routine, but by example-through hospitality, generosity, and the way she made everyone feel loved. She leaves behind a legacy of love, hospitality, strength, and joy. While her absence will be deeply felt, her spirit remains in every shared meal, every blooming flower, every fishing line cast, and every moment we choose to love one another the way she loved us. Mama Dot will forever be remembered, deeply missed, and eternally cherished. She was preceded in death by her husband, Emmit Wilder, her parents, Eugene Watson and Mattie Lee Watson, her stepdad, Albert Thornton, her son's Michael Anthony Jones and Steven Jones, her daughter Bridgette Gipson, her stepson Darryl Wilder, her great granddaughter Kennedy Z. Hobson, her sister Willie Lean Jones. and her brother Joe Nathan Watson. She leaves behind to cherish her loving memory her children: Douglas (Teresa) Jones, Betty (Carl) Burton, Ivan Jones, Vincent Jones, Leontyne Jones. Her siblings: Willie (Kaye) Parker, jr., Virginia (Willie) Thompson, Albertine Tullos, Linda Thornton, And Ray Thornton. She also leaves behind her special friends Percy And Bernice, her neighbors The Flippings and Johnny Monk. And also a host of grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Her spirit will live on in every shared story, every echo of laughter, and every act of love inspired by her example. We will forever carry her in our hearts.

Mrs. Dorothy Jean Wilder

September 26, 1944 - December 14, 2025