Mary Jane Cobb

Mary Jane Fuller Cobb was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on November 25, 1937. She graduated from Alcee Fortier High School in 1954 and from LSU in 1958 with a Bachelors’ degree in Elementary Education. She was the Associate Editor for the yearbook during her senior year at LSU. After one year teaching first grade in New Orleans, Mary Jane chose a different career path. She moved to Mobile, Alabama to work in aircraft logistics for the Air Force at Brookley Field, where she met her future husband, Henry Stewart “Hank” Cobb, Jr. They found that they shared a love of sailing and spent many weekends together at the Mobile Yacht Club, where she was the first single woman allowed to become a full member. The two married in May 1962 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Mobile. As bases closed and policies changed, they moved to Houston, TX and then to Bethesda, MD. She worked as a civilian for Naval Sea Systems Command near the Pentagon for many years, and eventually retired as a Budget Analyst. After retirement, they moved back to the city where they met and were active in church and cultural activities. Mary Jane passed peacefully in her sleep in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday, October 22, 2022.

Mary Jane was preceded in death by her parents, Harold William Fuller and Marie Ludlow Donaldson Fuller; her mother’s brothers, Guy Donaldson, Jr. and Joseph Donaldson; maternal grandparents, Mary Jane “Molly” Ludlow Donaldson and Guy Donaldson, Sr.; paternal grandparents, Mary Larussa Fuller Heath and William Harold Fuller; and one son, William Tucker Cobb.

She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Henry Stewart Cobb, Jr.; two sons, Henry Stewart Cobb III and Joseph Mitchell Cobb; and one grandson, Jacob Harold Cobb.

The funeral service will be held at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Mobile, at 11 am on Friday, October 28. A reception to celebrate her life will be held at the Mobile Yacht Club from 1 to 3 pm on Saturday, October 29.

In lieu of flowers, donations in remembrance may be made to the USO or to the church or charity of your choice.