Marie Jones, former police dispatcher, horse breeder, dies at 85

One of Marie Jones’ favorite places was the pastures of Taylor Made Farm outside of Lexington, Kentucky. There, she would spend hours among her horses. She’d come equipped with pockets full of carrots and peppermints. 

One mare, named Distorted Passion, would climb halfway into her lap to get closer.

“She was a 1,500-pound horse that thought she was a lap animal with Mrs. Jones,” said Katie Taylor, who managed part of Marie’s thoroughbred business for the last decade. “It’s like the greatest thing in the world to see someone like Mrs. Jones enjoy their horses so much.”

Jones, a longtime Eugene resident and a respected breeder in thoroughbred racing, died Aug. 5 at her home. She was 85.

Marie Jones was born Dec. 11, 1940, in Brunswick, Maine. Shortly after, her family moved to Roseburg, Oregon. There, she married a high school sweetheart and had a daughter, Suzanne Penegor. In 1961, the couple divorced.

As a single mother, she moved to Eugene, and became a police dispatcher — one of the few women in local law enforcement at the time.

Penegor said her mother is in a history book of Lane County law, titled “Dangerous Beauty,” where she’s described as helping save a colleague after he was nearly thrown from a balcony.

Marie married Aaron Jones in 1970. He was the founder of Seneca Sawmill Company, a major timber company in Eugene. He started Seneca-Jones Timber in 1992.

Those who knew the couple often described their marriage as playful and deeply romantic. 

Penegor said the couple’s introduction to the thoroughbred industry began almost by accident after a doctor suggested Aaron Jones take up a hobby to offset his stressful business life.

Taylor remembers being invited to watch one of their horses race in the Santa Anita Derby. Afterward, they went to Aaron Jones’ favorite Mexican restaurant in Pasadena, California, where a band knew a song Aaron liked to sing to his wife.

“I just remember how sweet they were,” Taylor said. “Just totally in love with each other.”

Aaron bought every rose from a flower seller working the room and gave them all to Marie, Taylor said.

Marie Jones threw herself into the craft, spending hours reading books about breeding.

“Mom just loved the research,” Penegor said. “She had a whole system to figure out how to match great sires to good mares and come out with a well-bred, successful horse.”

Penegor said the breeding operation started off small, but eventually the couple developed a reputation in the industry.

Frank Taylor, director of new business development at Taylor Made Farm, met the Joneses at an auction when he was 17 and asked to board horses for them. A year later, they sent him 40 horses.

“It was kind of surprising because I was only 17,” Taylor said. “They just saw something in us and gave us a chance. Mr. and Mrs. Jones became a second set of parents for me.”

The partnership with Taylor lasted 47 years and produced numerous champions, including 2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion Ted Noffey and 2010 Belmont Stakes champion and 2011 Breeders Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer.

“There (are) breeders out there breeding hundreds of mares who can’t get a horse that good,” Katie Taylor said. “It’s just uncanny how great of a horsewoman she was.”

For Katie Taylor, Aaron and Marie Jones were another set of grandparents. Marie Jones mentored Katie Taylor, fronting the money for a horse she wanted to buy and resell. 

“We actually didn’t end up making any money on the filly [a young female horse] whatsoever,” she said with a chuckle. “Mrs. Jones just really supported me and encouraged me, though.”

Frank Taylor remembers Marie Jones with a “servant’s heart,” walking around the farm and checking in with all the grooms, making sure everybody was taken care of. Katie seconded that, remembering her showing up in “fancy shoes and beautiful jewelry” to help clean stalls.

Frank Taylor said Marie Jones cared for her husband with compassion and grace before his passing in 2014.

“She stuck with him through thick and thin,” Taylor said. “It was beautiful to watch. She really loved him, and she really supported him through the good times and the bad.”

“She was a leader in her community in so many ways,” Penegor said. “It’s nice to have a role model, for other women to say, ‘I can do that too.’”

Family and friends affectionately called her the “Chocolate Chip Cookie Queen” for her baking skills and memories of coming home to platters of warm chocolate chip cookies, and “Marie Andretti” for her love of fast cars, her favorite being a convertible Mercedes.

“She was always out to help other people,” Frank Taylor said. “She didn’t focus on herself. She was selfless, and she put everybody else first. That’s who she was.”