Mary Austin (Polly) St. John

March 20, 1924 – April 20, 2020

Our mother, Polly St. John, passed away peacefully on April 20 at age 96.

Polly grew up in Naugatuck, Connecticut – a small town near Waterbury. She loved singing and music and was close to her younger sister, Anne. She graduated from St. Margaret’s Episcopal day school in Waterbury in 1943. She started college but was unable to finish due to eye problems. Always looking for something to do, Polly and a friend opened a preschool at a local golf club. They arrived early to remove cigar butts from the lobby before the 20 children arrived. Polly loved working with children.

In 1948, she married her high school sweetheart -- our father, David St. John -- a serious swimmer and graduate of Columbia University. They lived in Boston, where our brother Dave was born, and then in New Jersey where Marcy and Peter were born. Our father then took a job with Brown-Forman Distillers in sales and the family moved to Pasadena, California. Nora and Austin were born in Pasadena. Polly loved being pregnant and having children around her – and the five of us kept her happy and busy.

Polly always looked forward and was interested in all our friends, our music, our movies, our lives. She enjoyed it when our friends were over and we were all sitting around the kitchen table or playing outside. When Davey joined a band in 1967, the band practiced in the garage and brought their friends with them. She loved creative dance and art, and was always encouraging us to dance, play music, and create our own entertainment. She had no interest in television until she discovered PBS late in her life.

After we’d all left, Polly began working at the Huntington Hospital childcare center. She particularly loved the 2- and 3-year olds. She related to their endless energy and curiosity. She enjoyed meeting new people and chatted with everyone. She was also active in the Al-Anon community.

In 2007, she moved to Northern California – to a retirement community in Mill Valley called The Redwoods. She enjoyed her time there, participating in their Drumming Circle, the Seniors for Peace, and running their casual flea market. In 2017, she moved to a small healthcare facility near Bethesda, Maryland, where she got to enjoy the company of Austin and his family every week. She passed away peacefully on April 20. She was predeceased in death by her oldest son, Dave, and is survived by her other children – Austin, Nora, Peter and Marcy, and their families.

We will miss her humor, her love, her willingness to be silly, her love of movement and dance, and all those things that made her our Mom.

May she forever rest in peace.