Mary Jane Williams

Born on March 26th, 1941 in Lansing, Michigan, Mary Jane was the only child of Earl E. and Clara (Fox) McDonald. She graduated valedictorian from J.W. Sexton High School in 1959 and attended Albion College from 1959-1963, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts, having double-majored in Latin and English. That fall, she enrolled in the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and in 1972 attained her PhD in Comparative Literature with specializations in Ancient Greek, Latin, and Medieval English.

In the fall of 1968, Mary Jane was appointed to the faculty of the English Department of Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. In 1970 she returned to Ann Arbor and subsequently made her career with the Middle English Dictionary Project of the University of Michigan, the largest philological project in the history of the country. She would rise to the position of Associate Editor and her tenure would see the completion of the 71-year-long project in 2001, the year of her retirement.

Mary Jane’s interests were wide. She studied and performed ballet from childhood on, including many years with Sylvia Studio in Ann Arbor. In her high school and college years, she played the harp in the Sexton High School and Albion College orchestras. Mary Jane had a lifelong relationship with the Bay View Association of northwestern Michigan from age eight onward, becoming a full member in 1966. In more recent years, from 2007 to 2022, she was house manager for the residential program at the Bay View Women’s Council building, where she was to be found during the Bay View season. Mary Jane was a dedicated member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor, where for many years she volunteered weekly in the church office. She was also a longtime member of the Ann Arbor Doll Collectors Club.

Preceded in death by her parents, Mary Jane is survived by her loving son Mark, of Toronto, Ontario and her friend and former husband Ralph, of Ann Arbor. Funeral services will take place at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor on Saturday, February 1st at 1PM. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Bay View Women’s Council, St. Andrews Episcopal Church of Ann Arbor, or the Ann Arbor Doll Collectors Club.