This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 69-year-old LDS Church missionary from Utah died Friday, a day after she was severely burned in a kitchen fire.
Ann Baker Jones, of Taylorsville, died at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Scott Trotter, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a news release Jones was in the kitchen using the stove when a gas leak caused the fire. Her husband, Steve, was not injured.
Jones was flown to the Brooks Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio where she later died "with her husband by her side," said Trotter. She had been serving in the Texas San Antonio Mission for the past seven months with her husband as a missionary couple.
The couple's Taylorsville Stake president, John J. Jewkes, said he learned the couple were staying in a double-wide trailer in a "very remote" part of southeast Texas at least a half-mile from any neighbors.
Jewkes said Jones' husband was in a different room when the explosion occurred and was unable to get into the kitchen. He said Ann Jones will be remembered and loved as one of the best people he will ever know.
"It is a great tragedy to have lost her," Jewkes said. "Our hearts go out to [her husband and her family]. They are people of great faith. I know the gospel they were preaching as missionaries will help them endure this and other challenges in their life."
The LDS Church issued a statement on the accident.
"We extend our love and sympathy to Elder Jones, his family, friends and ward members. We pray that the spirit of the Lord will bring them peace, comfort and healing."
Funeral arrangements were pending.
cimaron@sltrib.comTwitter: @CimCity