Amy Leigh Jones Teele

Born Amy Jones, when she came of age she decided that her signature was a bit spare. Amy Leigh, as she chose to be known thereafter, lived life on her own terms. From her mother Barbara she inherited a love of the aesthetic and was an epic collector; she had a cheeky sense of humor and relished playing pranks; and she was fearless in the face of discomfort. Though she lost both of her legs to disease, she quipped that she always “put her best foot forward.” 

Like her father Donald, Amy never met a stranger. She would question new acquaintances about their families, lives, and cultures, and she became fast friends with the patrons and staff of her favorite Pittsburgh haunts. As a young woman she immersed herself in the lives of families that she stayed with in Indonesia and on a kibbutz in Israel, and she was a generous host to exchange students and au pairs from Japan, Germany, England, and Andorra. Her “craft room,” a personal refuge, was also the place where dreams took on material shape for her children, nieces and nephews, and her grandchildren. A longtime member of the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, Amy will be remembered as a naturally gifted pre-school and art teacher, who incorporated her boundless creativity and love of art history and artisanal crafting into each of her lessons.  

Amy was born on November 14th, 1963 to Barbara and Donald Jones in Wilkinsburg, PA. She graduated from Winchester Thurston in 1982 and later studied biology at Chatham University. She died on January 31, 2024, in the company of her siblings Autumn Katarincic (Jay), and Tom Jones (Ellen), at St. Margaret’s hospital. A devoted mother, in the final months of her life she traveled to Amsterdam to visit her daughter Emily Teele (Garth), Baltimore to visit her daughter Dawn Teele (Josh) and Turkey to visit her son Sam Teele (Melodi). She will be remembered by them, as well as her aunt Beverly Jones-Taylor (Buzz) and her cousin Ali Taylor, all of Pittsburgh, many fond nieces and nephews, and her beloved granddaughters, Sylvia (10), Madeleine (8), and Eleanore (3 months).

A memorial service will be held on Friday, April 12th at 6 p.m. at the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, 384 Fox Chapel Road, 15238.  Remembrances in lieu of flowers can be sent to the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church or to the Prosthetics Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, care of Bob Mcquire (ROM70@pitt.edu), Bakery Square suite 403 6425 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15206.  Arrangements by Weddell - Ajak Funeral Home, Aspinwall.

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