Jennifer Jones – Petty Officer 1st Class in the U.S. Navy
Jennifer is now testing for Chief Petty Officer which will put her in the top 3% of all enlisted persons who have ever served. It will be an impressive feat but those that know Jennifer, like her boss Jim Rudolph with Veterans Funeral Care, believe she is fully capable of accomplishing this honor due to her hard work, dedication and commitment to service. Jennifer has been in the military for 17 years, having started as part of the ROTC in high school then moving on to the Coast Guard Reserve. As a single mom, she was looking for a military opportunity that enabled her to grow and she found that with the U.S. Navy. There she was deployed for a year to Africa, Dubai, Bahrain and Kuwai as part of a anti-terrorist force protection squadron
It was during her time in the Navy that she began to volunteer working on funeral ceremonies and ultimately became a funeral honor coordinator at McDill Airforce base. That experience provided a real sense of pride in working with military families.
Jennifer took her passion for service even further by reaching out to Veterans Funeral Care to become part of the funeral ceremony team at what is America’s first funeral home completely dedicated to serving veterans. There she is using her military and funeral expertise to build a career while also finishing up her education in St. Petersburg Community College/Mortuary Science program.
Her time in the military and funeral service help her better educate military families about funeral options. Many vets don’t know, for example, the variety of funeral benefits that they might be eligible for but she talks to them about things like disability rates. She is committed to doing everything possible to provide a sense of comfort and understanding.