Mary Jane Davis was born on May 27, 1925 in Baltimore County to parents Joseph and Mary Hodges. She was the youngest of 3 children.

She graduated from Eastern High School in 1943. She attended Hood College and graduated from there in 1947 with a degree in Nutrition Science. She attended a program in Dietary Management at the University of Washington in 1948 and then returned to the Baltimore area to teach and work as a dietician.

In 1949 while working as a dietician at the Breezy Point Western Electric plant a tall handsome man from Tennessee caught her eye. She and Dan Davis married in in 1951. Dan was transferred to Western Electric headquarters in New York City and they packed up their daughter Gina and moved to Staten Island, New York.

She lived in the house on the hill for 45 years. During that time, in addition to raising her 3 daughters, she became a very active member of the Staten Island community, where she received an award for Woman of Achievement from the Staten Island Advance.  She was a member of the League of Women Voters, the Greenbelt Conservancy, Martin Luther King Heritage House, was active in the PTA, serving as president on occasion. Her house was open to many visiting friends and family, there was a yearly Derby Day party and big Christmas dinners which emerged from a very small kitchen.

She was a continual learner and took classes in art at the New School in Manhattan. She thrived by the water – lakes, bays, oceans, rivers and loved being where there are vistas. There were always trips with the family and many Elderhostel adventures with her sister Norma and brother-in-law Tom Haught and friends.

She moved to back to the Baltimore area to Edenwald in 2008 and became active in another vibrant community. Her friends from Edenwald sustained her over the years.

Mary Jane died at home in Edenwald surrounded by loved ones on July 2, 2024. She is survived by her son Daniel M Davis III, Gina Davis, Polly Davis and Martha Davis, grandchildren Daniel M Davis IV, Clayton Davis, Christopher Davis, Ava Hamilton and Emma Davis, great grandchildren Emily, Katlyn, Ryan and Camryn, sons-in-law Don Nelson and Scott Hamilton and daughter-in-law JoAnn Davis.

Please consider donations to:

Planned Parenthood of Texas https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-greater-texas

Greater Lynn Senior Services https://www.glss.net/