Mary Jorgensen

She was born February 11, 1917, in Woods Cross, Utah, the first child of Wilford W. and Emmoretta Sessions Hatch. As the first daughter, she was named Mary after a long standing Sessions family tradition, and, grew up on the Hatch family farm, part of the original homesteaders to settle Woods Cross. Mary’s maternal great-grandfather, Peregrine Sessions, founded the City of Bountiful as the livestock and farming support center for the Mormon settlement of Salt Lake City. She is a graduate of Davis County High School, Class of 1935, and Utah State Agricultural College (USU), Class of 1939.

Upon graduation, she moved to Green River for her first teaching year, then on to Moab, where she was Grand County High School home economics teacher. While there, a friend and former college roommate introduced Mary to her husband’s friend, Boyd Jorgensen. They married in 1942, and, following Army Air Corps orders, moved around the country from Kansas to Washington and back to Utah. After WWII, with experience in pilot training, Boyd was hired by Western Airlines in Salt Lake City. Within a couple of years, the company moved headquarters to Los Angeles, California. By 1949, Boyd and Mary settled into their new “suburban track house” in Manhattan Beach.

A few years later, Mary returned to school at UCLA for updated teaching credentials. She returned to teaching, temporarily at Redondo Beach High School, then Mira Costa High School. Mary pioneered several class programs and taught until retiring in 1980.

Now both retired, they moved back to Salt Lake City. After Boyd’s passing in 1999, Mary stayed until 2005, when she moved to Georgia to live with daughter, Mary Louise, husband, Bill, and keep company with her buddies, “The Boys”, three rambunctious English Springer Spaniels!

In honor of our fabulous care team at Kindred Hospice, and Ms. Mary’s favorite furry friends, the family requests donations in lieu of flowers to these fine organizations:

Kindred Hospice-Columbus

700 Brookstone Center Parkway #100

Columbus, GA 31904

Humane Society of Harris County

3938 Barnes Mill Road

Hamilton, GA 31811

Crypt-side services will be held at Wasatch Lawn Garden of the Roses Mausoleum, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Mary, oldest of eleven, is survived by her youngest sister and brother-in-law LaVar and Sharon Hatch Lords, sisters-in-law Margaret Hatch and Bonnie Hatch, and, numerous nieces and nephews. Her daughter and son-in-law, Bill and Mary Louise Griffin, both retired Naval Officers, reside in Pine Mountain, GA.

By: Captain Mary Louise Griffin, US Navy, Retired