She was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on March 1st, 1934 to Charles Patrick Cairns (born in Scotland) and Alice Lilian (Jackson) (born in England).
One of Mary’s proudest achievements was becoming a Naturalized citizen of the United States on February 21st, 1966. She and her parents moved to San Francisco when she was 3 to be closer to family and during WWII returned to Victoria when Mary was 6. She gave birth to her son, Joe Lee in 1953 while living in San Francisco near her two aunts and four cousins. In her younger days, she worked in banks and she loved to dance.
She moved to Arizona in 1964, fell in love with the state, and never wanted to live anywhere else. She adopted two baby girls, Heather, born in 1968 and Laurel, born in 1971. She was a homeroom mother, “the art lady”, and was very involved in their schooling. As the girls got older, she went to work for the Paradise Valley Unified School District where she was employed for over 20 years. In 1984, Mary took on a 2nd weekend job at Realty Executives McCormick Ranch office, also staying on for over 2 decades.
When she met her husband Jim around 1994, she and he shared a dream to build their own company. They never wanted to stop working even though they were retirement age. For 24 years, Mary worked alongside Jim running their blind cleaning business. She volunteered by Jim’s side with the Southwest Veterans Chamber of Commerce and her patriotism was contagious.
Mary had a passion for her 3 children, 2 grandkids, her 2 sisters, long-time and good neighbors and her loving husband. She enjoyed spending time at her cabin in Munds Park and taking day trips with Jim exploring all over Arizona. Mary loved her roses, her backyard, watching the hummingbirds, the beautiful Arizona weather, and was an avid reader. Her favorite novels were by Vince Flynn and she loved espionage and spy novels. The one thing that set Mary apart and made her a special person is that she always put others first. Always.
Mary is survived by her husband, James Thomas, son Joseph Hill (Los Angeles), daughters, Heather Hill (Phoenix), Laurel (Hill) Ruston (Glendale), granddaughter, Liz Oliverson (Eau Claire, WI), grandson Logan Ruston (Phoenix), sisters Patricia (and Leonard) Okell (Victoria, BC) and Joanie (and Earl) Bridal (Comox, BC) and her nieces Shannon, Allison, Erica, Jennifer, Carla and Kylie and nephews Jason and Blair, (all of BC, Canada), as well as cousins in the San Francisco Bay area and Australia.
A celebration of life will be held for Mary Saturday, March 30, 2019 from 2 – 6 pm at The VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post # 720 - 4853 E Thomas Road in Phoenix, 85018
In lieu of flowers, donations to The James Walton Home would be appreciated pvpjwh.org/donate/
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