Mary Cornelia JONES [4236]

  General Notes:

Words from Bob (Stewart) at the Ceremony for the Celebration of Mary's Life.
28th October 2006
Although I am grieving and will continue to grieve, I still want to speak today.
This is because I want to thank so many of you for all your kindnesses at this time for Mary and our family.
Thanks so much for the kind words, cards, flowers, lovely food and concern. Some of you are able to be here today, some not, while others are sharing in our Service via the internet.
Our special thanks for the wonderful care by the staff in the Hospice. Many other people were also involved in recent days in Mary's care. Family members such as Rob, Peter and Kim, Mary's sister Dorothy, and Niece Sue should be mentioned.
Through this ceremony we are really expressing thanks for all that Mary was.
In particular I want to thank Mary for our 35 years together. I want to thank her for being such a wonderful wife, partner, best buddy and engaging conversationalist for all these years!
I also want to participate in telling Mary's story.
John and Dorothy focused mainly on Mary's early life. In 1969, she had arrived here from Scotland to catch up with them and visit New Zealand.
When I met Mary through a mutual friend, I was a young Lecturer at Massey with lots of hair and a dashing red Fiat sports car!
In one of our first meetings I was very impressed with Mary, because when the sports car had a puncture, she got out and the two of us did the needful to get the car going again!
Winton Davies, here again today, officiated at our wedding in 1971, and my Godmother, my Aunt Alice was the organist. Mary's sister Dorothy was the Bridesmaid and her daughter Sue the Flowergirl.
Rob was born in 1972 and Peter in 1973.
Mary was certainly used to international travel before she met me, and this was to continue in our marriage!
In December 1974 we headed off to Canada. In Northern Ontario in Sudbury, we lived right beside a lake with a jetty at the bottom of the garden, with chipmonks and birch trees around the residence. In the winter we enjoyed cross country skiing, in the summer we enjoyed the lake, and in the autumn we picked the sweet wild blueberries that grew all around.
In 1978 we moved from Canada to tropical Fiji, where we continued our university focused life, at the multi country University of the South Pacific. Living right on campus in sight of the sea, we planted coconut trees, frangipani and hibiscus trees around the house.
Rob and Peter had their primary and early secondary schooling in Fiji, and Mary became very involved in the Cub movement. During the weekends we took our choice of the various Tourist Resorts. As locals we could stay there for half price! The picture of Mary on the programme was taken near our home.
Mary tutored at the University at the local Theological Seminary, using her Masters degree in Classics from the University of Aberdeen. She was fascinated with language, the usages of various words, and Dictionaries and Concordances were well used. Only about a year ago she started learning Swahili, an interest stimulated by one of our international sponsored children who lives in Tanzania, as well as her own childhood experience of East Africa.
When we moved back to New Zealand in 1969, Mary continued her interests in the Cub movement, and became an active volunteer with the Samaritans. She was an Elder with St. Marks Church and started a long and enjoyable involvement with the Fonterra Sensory Evaluation Unit, as a food taster.
Mary very much enjoyed our family beach cottage on the Kapiti Coast -Mary's decoration theme there is "Anything related to fish".
Visits to Rob in Rotorua and Peter, Kim and Grandson Hayden in Sale, Victoria, Australia have been a highlight in recent years. As her friends will know, Mary had a "Grandma's brag book" with lots of pictures of her grandson!
Mary also enjoyed crafts. She liked macramé, crochet, sewing, and knitting for Hayden. Every stitch was knitted with love.
Mary enjoyed her quiet time with our two cats, Ginger and Marmalade that were a much loved part of our life.
She chose to join me as a Rotarian, and it was a great experience for us to travel to Brisbane to attend a World Rotary Congress
Mary played Hockey as a youngster and enjoyed seeing Rob and Peter get involved in the sport. She also had a talent for playing the recorder and the viola, and liked listening to music, especially the panpipes.
We have received so many comments about Mary in recent days. As a Cub leader, Mary was described to me a day ago by one parent as not "the busy 'organizing' kind but, in his words, a 'gentle watching angel' over her young charges, who were big and brave during the day but needed some care when the dark night came!"
Mary was a person with a big heart. She was always there to help others in need and was very much loved and respected.
So Mary, thank you so much for all the fascination and wonderment and love that was you.
Thank you for letting me be part of your life.
Thank you so much for just being you.

Tribute to Mary Stewart from her brother-in-law John Kirkman.
Mary's childhood and early years 1937-1969
I first met Mary and her sisters Olwen and Dorothy and her brother David some 43 years ago. These memories of Mary's childhood and early years have been provided by Olwen who lives in Exeter England, David who lives in Waterdown, Ontario, Canada and Dorothy, my wife who is with us here today. Olwen and David are unable to be here today but have been in constant contact over recent weeks.
Mary was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA on 13 September 1937. She was the 2nd of 4 children. Olwen's earliest memories are of seeing the yellow cab bringing her mother and new baby back from the hospital to their grandparents home in Chicago. Later there was Mary's baptism, to Olwen Mary seemed a small white bundle in a crowd of black clad adults.
Mary's mother was a teacher of Dutch-American descent and her father was a Welsh Presbyterian minister. They met in Kuwait and together they were missionaries and teachers in the 1930s in several parts of the Middle East including Aden and Kuwait. They lived in Kenya (1943-1948) and while there Mary won a scholarship to Christ's Hospital which was a Blue Coat School (a top school) in Hertford England, so arrangements were made for her to travel back home by ship (as always in those days) escorted by friends of the family.
The rest of the family returned to Britain in 1948, and after a year in Edinburgh moved to Aberdeen where Mary's father had been appointed as a minister to a central city church. In Aberdeen Mary went to day school where she met Sheila Tough, who was later to be her colleague on the staff. Mary and Sheila remained lifelong friends. Indeed, Sheila (who now lives in Edinburgh) attended Mary's birthday party this year here in Palmerston North with Olwen, David and Dorothy.
Mary graduated in 1959 from the University of Aberdeen with an MA Honours degree in Classics (Latin and Greek) followed by a one year teachers training certificate. After teaching at the girls high school in Aberdeen she completed a primary children teachers certificate and then taught primary children before emigrating to New Zealand in 1969. Again she travelled by ship, this time via the Panama Canal.
Throughout her early years Mary was active in sport and played hockey for her school. She was also an accomplished viola player and played in the school orchestra.
Throughout her life Mary was always positive, her motto being (as on her 69th birthday cake) Carp Diem meaning "seize the moment" or "enjoy the day". She was a faithful and entertaining correspondent, often enclosing cuttings or items of interest, and always related the doings of her beloved cats Marmalade and Ginger, although these always took second place to her family, especially her precious grandson Hayden. The fortnight Olwen, David and Dorothy spent together with Mary in Palmerston North in September 2006 has given lasting memories, especially of Mary smiling with her arms full of daffodils. To the end Mary was always thoughtful and concerned for the comfort and welfare of her close family and will be sadly missed by her sisters and brother.

Rob Stewart
Talk at the Service for the Celebration of the Life of my Mother
28 October 2006 Good morning!
I would like to personally thank all those who have come here today, from far and wide and also for those who couldn't be here in person.
Thank you for all the powers, cards, tributes and voice messages, they mean a lot.
Although this is a sad occasion it is also a joyous one.
This is more a celebration of Mum's life, than of her passing. There are so many people that she's influenced, helped and given herself for. The list is very long. There are many who have said "she's gone to a better place", and this is true.
I was privileged about 3 weeks ago to pray the Sinner's Prayer with her, and she received Jesus as her Lord and Saviour and will see her again.
I have been very priviliged to have had two resident parents. Mum's always been there for me. With her vast knowledge of languages she has been extremely helpful when 1 had questions of a Biblical nature. She was a walking encyclopedia in Greek/Hebrew/Latin and Aramaic and many other languages to boot.
On one of the many evenings when I was staying over staying over I was encouraging Mum in the things of God. She felt pain and l said in heaven there is no pain, and you might even get a chariot. She said, is it automatic
To close I will read Mum's favourite Psalm, Psalm 23

Mary married Living