Mary Jane McDonald

Born in 1926 in Omaha, Nebraska, Mary Jane was the daughter of Rachel Farrington Howe and Donald K. Howe. She was a 1946 graduate of Vassar College, where she majored in mathematics. She and her husband married the following year and settled in the Boston area, where she worked briefly as a research technician and then raised their four children. During the 1970s, Mary Jane taught secondary school math at Arlington High School and Deerfield Academy, while earning a masters degree in education from Boston University. After retiring from teaching she was self-employed for several years making cut and pierced lampshades. Before moving to Brewster fulltime in 1986 the McDonalds were regular summer residents. Mary Jane spent her childhood summers in Brewster Park and brought her children there for summers beginning in 1953.

Mary Jane was active in sports throughout her life, especially tennis and figure skating. She was an active volunteer in many organizations, including her Vassar College class whose sixtieth reunion she chaired in 2006 and whose seventieth reunion she attended in 2016. After moving to Cape Cod she was active in Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod, the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, and First Parish Brewster. In retirement she became a quilter and made dozens of quilts for family members, friends, and charity auctions. Mary Jane chaired the group that created the Brewster Bicentennial Quilt for the town’s celebration in 2003.

Mary Jane is survived by two daughters, Martha McDonald of West Dennis and Susan McDonald of Hamden, Connecticut; two sons, Alan McDonald of Harwich and Bruce McDonald of Charlotte, North Carolina; and seven grandchildren, Emily, Kelsey, Cameron, and Kyra McDonald, and Daniel, Jonathan, and Hannah Stone.

Mary Jane and her family have been very grateful for the outstanding care and companionship provided to her in her last years and months by numerous caregivers, especially Paulette, Lisa, Uschi, Shanique, and the many wonderful hospice staff.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. at First Parish Brewster.

Memorial donations in Mary Jane's name may be made to the First Parish, Brewster, MA or to The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.