The wonderful smile and huge heart of Mary A. Jones 85, a longtime resident of Keene, NH, will be greatly missed with her sudden passing on Thursday, April 8, 2021, ironically the same month and day of her birth, at the Cheshire Medical Center Dartmouth Hitchcock, Keene.
Her parents, Charles and Mary (Stevens) Nolan welcomed their daughter into the world on April 8, 1936 in Winchester, NH. Mary grew up in Winchester and was a 1954 graduate of Thayer High School where she was a multisport athlete.
Mary worked for many years as an assembler with the former American Optical Company, and Schleicher and Schuell Bio Science, Inc, both of Keene. She also worked at Paire’s market in West Keene.
A love for people, Mary could often be found at Wheelock Park in Keene watching the men’s and women’s softball. As a member of the KHS football booster club she spent many Saturday afternoons watching her sons play football.
She was also actively involved in helping her husband Robert “Bob” Jones plan the many events at the clubhouse in their community Brentwood Estates in Hudson, FL. She and her husband Bob spent their winters there until moving there on a full-time basis following retirement. She and Bob returned to Keene to be close to family in 2018.
She loved to go on cruises; gambling a little; dancing; and she loved the ocean and swimming. She was an avid Red Sox fan as well. Mary was also a member of the Keene Senior Center Swingers Vocal Group.
Mary was predeceased by her first husband, Wilfred “Bo” Sortwell.
She will be greatly missed by many, especially her husband of 27 years, Robert R. "Bob" Jones of Keene; her two sons, Wayne Sortwell and his wife, Jackie, of Goffstown, NH, Michael Sortwell and his wife, Robin, of Maribel, Wisconsin; her stepchildren, Sharon Elsesser of Acworth, NH, Linda Bragg and her husband, Mark, of Marlow, NH, Pamela Jones of Marlow, NH; eleven grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; several great-great-grandchildren; a brother, Earl Nolan and his wife, Harriett, of Westmoreland, NH; a sister Edith Smith of Winchester; many nieces and nephews and extended family members.
Family and friends are invited to call on Friday evening April 30, 2021 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court Street, Keene. A graveside service will be held on Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 10:30a.m. in the Monadnock View Cemetery, Park Avenue, Keene All those in attendance at the calling hours and graveside service are required to wear facemasks and to maintain the physical distancing protocols.
In lieu of flowers, for those who wish, donations may be made in Mary’s memory to the Norris Cotton Cancer Center Kingsbury Pavilion, 580 Court Street, Keene, NH 03431.
