Obituary of Mary J. Wilber

Mary Jenney Wilber (Mimi), 86, a long time Duxbury resident went to be with the Lord on Monday April 10th after an eight year battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was born June 21, 1930 to Leonard and Ruth (Allen) Jenney of Newton, MA. She graduated from Walnut Hill School in 1948 and went on to receive a BS in Political Science from Wellesley College in 1952. Mary met her late husband Grant F Wilber, Jr. of Drexel Hill, PA on a blind date and married him after he proposed on the Isle of shoals where she was “summering” as a “Relish Girl” at the historic hotel. Mary and Grant were married in Newton, MA June 16, 1951. They relocated to Duxbury, MA where they built a home on Indian Trail and started their family. Mary devoted her life to family, friends and community. She was a talented artist, cartoonist and sailor. She loved the beach, boating, her dogs, history and maps. She was a Girl Scout leader, Superintendent of Sunday school at Pilgrim Church and a cartoonist for The Duxbury Clipper. She served as a volunteer for 35 years in the Jordan Hospital Club in Plymouth. Mary also served as President and later founded and ran the Jordan Hospital Craft Cart. Every Wednesday for twenty-five years she visited the sick and hurting while sharing crafts, prayers, encouragement and Jesus. A near death experience in 1975 lead her to a lifelong personal faith in Jesus Christ. She was a long time member and faithful supporter of “Journey Community of Faith” in Duxbury where she taught Sunday School, hosted Bible studies and was a pillar of prayer and faith to those knew her. Mary loved geography, photography and traveling to new places. She visited the USSR, Mainland China, Japan, Taiwan, Israel and Europe, not to mention annual trips to Colorado Springs to visit her son and family there. She had a genuine interest in places and people. She drew people out, found interest in their lives and loved people where they were at. She could talk to you for three hours without ever mentioning herself. She carried on correspondence to dozens of friends and family around the globe throughout her life. Mary had a great sense of humor and laughed easily. She created hundreds of hand-crafted personal Birthday cards for family and friends. Most everyone she knew received her personal Christmas card and message every year. Mary was not the Hallmark “Happy Holidays” type. She loved her Lord and unabashedly but gracefully shared her faith. After her husband's passing she worked for many years in various roles with the family business, Fun Services, where she had many friends. Mimi’s children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren remember her Duxbury home as a place of crafts, art projects, popsicle sticks, bubbles, Klondike bars, hot dogs and beans, walks around the block, puzzles, Chinese checkers, chutes and ladders and Love. She was a wonderful mom... but she was an incredible and loving Grandmother. Mary is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth (Wilber) Woods and her husband David Woods of Halifax, MA, her son, David J Wilber and his wife Peggy (Moorehead) Wilber of Colorado Springs, CO and her son Jonathan T Wilber and his wife Mary (Debortoli) Wilber of Plymouth, MA. Mary’s beloved grandchildren and their families are Christine (Woods) Redding and her husband Jim Redding, their children Danielle and Elijah. Joshua Woods and his wife Amy (Amormino) Woods, and their children Grant, Jayton and Gibson. Rebecca Wilber and Michael Wilber. Travis Wilber and Sheri Holden and their children Ryland and Reid, Nathan Wilber, Katie (Wilber) Spinola and her husband Iolando Spinola, Jenney Wilber and Samuel Wilber. Visitation will be on Friday April 14th from 5PM to 7:30PM at Shepherds Funeral Home, 216 Main St., Kingston, MA. A memorial service will be Saturday morning, April 15th at 11AM also at Shepherds Funeral Home. A private family graveside interment at Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury will follow. Memorial donations may be made to the Jordan Hospital Club, Inc., PO Box 1727, Plymouth, MA 02362. Please include Mary’s name.