Velma L. (Hart) Jukes

Velma L Jukes, age 99, passed away on Wednesday, December 10, 2025. She was a caring worker, neighbor, friend, sister, aunt, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and great grandmother. A child of the Great Depression, she told stories of visiting the local dump with her father to search for discarded canned goods, hoping to find mistakenly discarded or partially damaged cans that might contain salvageable food. Her high school years coincided with the onset of World War II, and she sadly shared her 15th and all future birthdays with Pearl Harbor Day. She recalled that attendance at her Coraopolis High School graduation was eerily devoid of male graduates since so many of her classmates had enlisted or had been drafted into the armed forces, leaving well before the graduation ceremony. During the war years, with her sister Betty and good friend Betty Zorsi, she formed a song and dance trio, touring the Coraopolis area, performing contemporary hits and gospel music. As the war progressed, she worked at the Neville Island shipyard, took several secretarial jobs in now defunct Pittsburgh law firms, navigating to work on foot and streetcar. Befriending two feisty brothers from Moon Township, one in the Navy and one in Army, she set her strongest sights on the Army boy and in a quick elopement to West Virginia in February of 1950, married the redhead, Donald R. Jukes. Shortly after his release from the Army signal corps, Donald’s military experience led to a series of jobs with the U.S. Government and Velma accompanied him through assignments in Washington, D.C., Nicosia, Cyprus, Caracas, Venezuela and Miami, Florida. She gave birth to four children during these assignments, one in the D.C. area, two in Cyprus and one is Caracas. Tiring of traveling and exposing the family to some potentially dangerous political situations, Velma and her husband returned to the Coraopolis area in the late 50’s. After struggling for several years to find lasting employment and living at various addresses including the basement of Donald’s mother’s home and three different row house units in the Mooncrest area of Moon Township, they both found stable employment and in 1968 purchased a home on Eastern Avenue in Coraopolis. Velma retired after long service as a reservationist from U. S. Air where she saw that company (then Allegheny/Mohawk Airlines) grow from a small firm working out of a hangar at the old Pittsburgh Airport to a major airline. She maintained close relationships with her co-workers, friends, neighbors, and family until her death. Until her vision began to fail, she enjoyed playing the card game “31” almost every Sunday night with family and friends. She was preceded in death by husband Donald, her parents Charles and Myra (Puff) Hart, her sister Betty (Hart) Hartman and her brother, Robert Hart. She is survived by four families: Donald E. Jukes and wife Ellen of Imperial; Richard R. Jukes and wife Debbie of Monaca; Robert E. Jukes and wife Donna of Center Township; Linda (Jukes) Paul and husband Gary of Cape Coral Florida. Velma’s grandchildren, great grandchildren, and extended family include: Robert Jukes of Center (children Brandon and his wife Shiloh, Matthew and Riley); Jennifer (Jukes) Jones and husband Brian (son Ian) of Bel Air, MD;  Kelly (Jukes) Danna (son Zachary Jukes) and husband Mike Danna (and their granddaughter Adelaide of England) of Oakdale; Elizabeth (Jukes) Schultz and husband Justin (children Annaliese and Liesl) of Hopewell; Melissa Jukes and Greg Hancock of Canton Georgia; Timothy Jukes and wife Jennifer of Robinson Township;  Amber (Paul) Gartner and husband Mike (children Aubrey, Brittany and Tiffany) of Ocala, FL; Erin (Paul) Guardado and husband Joe (children Daphne and Gatlin) of Cape Coral, Fl.; Donna (Hartman) Cox and husband Chuck of Coraopolis; Carlisle Jukes and wife, Marion of Houma, LA; Becky (Jukes) Brennan and husband John of Houma, LA; and Lisa Jukes of Bay St. Louis, MS.  Velma coveted her relationship with family and her new and old neighbors on Eastern Avenue, especially Larry (now of Pittsburgh) and Mary Jo (deceased) Powell, and John (deceased) and Rose Majchrzak (deceased). Despite advanced macular degeneration and limited mobility, she continued to correspond with friends and family, carefully drawing X and O “hugs and kisses” and large smiley faces on cards and letters, smiling coyly as she added more X and O endearments. Velma’s smile continues to be infectious. Friends received on Thursday 12 – 2 pm at R. D. Copeland, Inc., 981 Brodhead Road, Moon Township, PA 15108 where a Funeral Service will be held at 2 pm. Donations in Velma’s name may be made to Prevent Blindness at https://preventblindness.org/donate-to-prevent-blindness/ or to the Beaver County Humane Society at https://beavercountyhumanesociety.org/online-donation/.

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