Mary Jean Danner

Mary Jean (Tranquill) Danner passed away on March 8 at the age of 76. She grew up in the small town of Avella, Pennsylvania, but moved to Chicago in the 1960s where she met her husband, Russell. They married in 1973 and had three daughters: Becky, Valerie, and Carolyn.

She was a proud and loving stay-at-home mom, never missing any event for her kids. She was often a big kid herself, staying up late to play cards and board games, build puzzles, or play video games. Nobody was as good at Legend of Zelda as she was (the old-school kind — none of these fancy ones). She’d play Barbies, ride bikes, walk to get ice cream, and do “campouts” in front of the fire at Christmastime. She loved taking her three daughters every summer to Pennsylvania where she grew up (and they loved it, too). One constant since the early 1980s was George Strait playing in the background; he became the soundtrack of her life. One of her recent highlights was going to see him perform with Becky in Las Vegas twice.

In 2013, she moved to Chandler, Arizona, where she delighted in following the weather back in Chicago so she could let Valerie and Carolyn know how much nicer it was in Arizona. But the real reason for the move was to be closer to her three grandchildren — Abby, Alex, and Zach — so she could regularly dote on them. She absolutely loved being their grandma. Even before the official move, she was in Arizona to help with the kids: first in 2009 when Abby was born, and again in 2011 when Alex and Zach came along. She was always on hand to help with feedings, rocking them to sleep, or taking them for walks in their favorite wagon.

As they grew up, she loved to show them her silly side. When Valerie and Carolyn would visit, Abby enjoyed playing school … a lot. Mary Jean rotated with Daisy the dog as principal. Valerie and Carolyn took turns being the “bad” kid. Alex and Zach delighted in dragging the naughty kids off to her and Daisy when they got in trouble, where she’d make them sit in time-out in a funny hat. With the grandkids, she enjoyed making Play-Doh creations, coloring, having tea parties, and making Christmas cookies. She also loved playing restaurant, where Abby took lunch orders for the humans and various stuffed animals. (Olaf the snowman never paid his bills. Good thing Chase from Paw Patrol was there to put him in jail.)

In the last weeks of her life, George was on continuously in the background and sang to her as she took her last breath as her three daughters held her hands and stroked her head, constantly reminding her how much they loved her. She was a mom who was always there for them; they wanted to do the same for her in those last moments.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Russell, and her parents, August and Mary. She’s survived by her daughters Becky Birr, Valerie Danner, and Carolyn (Efren) Martinez; her three grandchildren, Abby, Alex, and Zach; her former son-in-law, Adam; siblings Sally (Johnny), Augie (Linda), and Richie (Linda); and countless nieces and nephews.

She was fun, loving and above all a kind and caring soul. Her family will always love her deeply and feel the loss of her always. To paraphrase one of her favorite George songs, we’ll be carrying her love with us forever.

As for services, she’d likely say, “Oh, don’t make a fuss or waste your money.” However, with a loving eyeroll, we are respectfully going to disagree as she deserves to be celebrated and remembered. A celebration of life will be arranged in the coming weeks. We’ll update this page, or you can email [email protected] to receive information once it’s finalized. Be ready to remember our beloved mom, grandma, sister, and friend — and listen to some George Strait.

In the meantime, we’ve collected some of her favorite George Strait songs to listen to as you remember the happy times with her: https://spoti.fi/3udmVgO.