Mary Jane "Lolly" Mahoney

Mary Jane “Lolly” Mahoney peacefully passed from this earth at home surrounded by family at the age of 84 following a lengthy illness. Words alone cannot do justice to the good life she lived. Lolly was an amazing and extraordinarily capable woman, a true partner in marriage to her husband Robert “Bob” Patrick Mahoney, devoted to her brood of five, her faith, and each community to which life led her.

Mary Jane was born in 1936 to Edna Judith Milani Cox and George Kiel Cox in Hackensack, NJ. Given the nickname Lolly in childhood, those who knew her would say her name with love and admiration all her life. A country tomboy from the get-go, she loved snakes and turtles and all things nature, once leading home a calf she purchased from a neighboring farm after learning of its veal-chop future.

Lolly graduated from Arlington High School in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1954 and attended SUNY New Paltz, graduating in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Lolly met Bob at college, and after teaching elementary school outside Albany, NY, she married him in Pleasant Valley, NY in 1961, honeymooning on Cape Cod. They spent their first years of marriage in student housing at Syracuse University. In 1964 they moved with their first son to Saratoga Springs, NY, where Bob taught at Skidmore College. She devoted the next 30 years to raising a family, being an active member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church, and giving love and care to elderly neighbors and the community.

A gifted artist and creative marvel, and if we are being honest fairly frugal (she was a pre-war baby after all), Lolly made many of the clothes her children wore; she learned her sewing craft from her father who was a Singer sewing machine salesman. An excellent cook, she more than met the challenge of feeding her family of seven, in part through provisioning her basement by canning vegetables and making preserves. Though unable to travel until later in life, she shared the world with her family and friends through recipes from around the globe. Summers were spent in picnics at Saratoga Spa State Park, enjoying the ballet and Philharmonic at SPAC, and an annual vacation on Cape Cod. Friends were made and cherished, gardens planted and tended (Master Gardener title attained), causes found and pursued, and children kept in line and nurtured. Lolly served on the Saratoga Springs School Board a decade after volunteering in support of the construction of a new district high school. After her children were sufficiently independent, Lolly taught nursery school at Katrina Trask (“good morning Mrs. A’Hony”) and had a successful career in real estate, connecting with clients and helping turn houses into homes.

And in all she did during those middle years of productive life she connected with others, making life-long friends, teaching life lessons to those she nurtured and mentored, and making her world and ours that much sweeter and loving. Her quiet but ever-present example of serving others instilled a strong sense of service in each of her children.

Lolly and Bob retired in 1994, returning to Cape Cod nearly a quarter-century after spending a year in Woods Hole, with five children ages newborn through six, while Bob was on sabbatical at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Never one to rest, Lolly became active at Our Lady of the Cape Catholic Church (which the family attended during summers in the ‘70s and ‘80s), donating much of her time to the OLC Thrift Shop. With Bob, she gave “relief” to the parents of two sets of triplets, demonstrating her boundless maternal energy and love. She also joined the East Dennis Ladies Aid, a century-old organization benefiting her new hometown and supporting education. Devoted to children, she gave time and energy and resources to numerous charitable organizations supporting young mothers and children.

Lolly is predeceased by her sister, Carol Bosworth, and is survived by her loving husband Bob, and her children (in birth order), Michael Patrick Mahoney of Spokane, WA; Kelly Ann Dettmann (spouse Brian) of Baltimore, MD, Jane Mahoney Outar (spouse O’Neil) of Newton Centre, MA, Shannon Michele Mahoney of Tryon, NC, and Matthew Kiel Mahoney (spouse Lea) of Richmond, VA. Affectionately known as Gaga, she leaves fond memories with six grandchildren, Robert, Georgia, Benjamin, Kiel, Baker, and Mac. She lives on in all those she touched with her wit, grace, integrity and motherly care, passing down for generations to come the lessons she taught those she loved.

The family would like to express their gratitude to VNA of Cape Cod Hospice and all of the wonderful home health aides who dedicated their care and time to Lolly’s final months. Gifts may be made in memoriam to A Baby Center, Hyannis, MA, or the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Brewster, MA.

Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, June 3 from 4-7 p.m. at Doane Beal & Ames Funeral Home at 729 Rt. 134, South Dennis, MA 02661. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Friday, June 4 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of the Cape Catholic Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, Brewster, MA 02641. Burial will be private. A Celebration of Lolly's Life will be held in the fall.