Former Dallas resident Mary Jane Baldwin Sanders passed away Saturday morning the 20th of June, 2015, in Marshall, Texas, at age 88. She died peacefully at her home of 60 years on Red Rock Hill, the peak of her parents’ manor farm. Together with her late husband Dr. Jack M. Sanders Sr., she raised three children there with unconditional love and the grace of humor, teaching respect for all God’s creations.
Mary Jane was born on the 17th of September, 1926. She was a fifth generation native of Marshall and the great, great, granddaughter of Harrison County settler, Vesti Gibbs Narrimore, the first woman in Texas to be issued a land grant from the Republic of Texas. “Janie” graduated Marshall High School with honors in 1943, and attended Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity. She was in the second among four generations of women in her family to belong to the fraternity. She completed her education at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, receiving a degree in medical technology, after which she joined the clinical staff at Charity Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Mary Jane wrote and spoke often of two passions: environmental preservation and whole child education. As a youth, she was a counselor at Camp Fern where for six years she taught swimming and canoeing on Fern Lake and Caddo Lake. As a young mother, she was a Cub Scout Den Mother and Camp Fire Girls Leader, sharing her love of bird-watching and her skills in the kitchen. Mary Jane was one of four founders of Trinity Episcopal School in Marshall, established to educate in mind, body and spirit. She served as the board’s first president in 1954. Between 1954 and 2003, she three times served on the school’s executive committee overseeing its fundraising. She found no place more beautiful than Caddo Lake, and maintained a residence there from 1958 until her death. For over 50 years, she worked in organizations dedicated to the lake’s preservation and ecotourism, including the Longpoint Caddo Lake Club, Cypress Valley Navigation District, Red River Valley Association, Greater Caddo Lake Association, Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant Restoration Advisory Board, and Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge Friends Group Board. In 2005, Mary Jane along with her husband was awarded the Forest Conservationist Award from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board. In 2008, they received the Nature Conservancy of Texas Fred and Lucille Dahmer Award.
Mary Jane was christened and confirmed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, where in her seventies she joined “Papa Jack” teaching Sunday School to pre-schoolers. She was a director of Scottsville Cemetery Association, and a member of the Harrison County Historical Society, The Daughters of the American Revolution, The Daughters of The Republic of Texas, Forum 50 and Club 25. A breast cancer survivor of 33 years, Mary Jane was an early and sustaining supporter of Susan G. Komen and CancerForward: The Foundation For Cancer Survivors.
Mrs. Sanders is survived by her daughter Beth Sanders Moore and husband Jess Moore of Dallas, her son Jack Monroe Sanders Jr. and wife Lynn Sanders of Marshall, her granddaughters Courtney Elizabeth Sanders Hess and husband Jeffrey Ray Hess of Fort Worth, and Rebecca Jane Sanders of Fort Worth and fiancé Taylor Fulton Allred of Wellington. Also surviving her are her step-grandchildren Anthony Frank Cocchiarella of Houston, Gina Cocchiarella Krenek and husband Brian Jeffries Krenek of Columbus, Ohio, along with their children Micah and Cole. Her sister-in-law Cora Lee (Cody) Fein Baldwin of Marshall and Long Boat Key, Florida, survives her as do numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and their children.
She is preceded in death by her devoted husband of 63 years, Dr. Jack Monroe Sanders Sr., her loving son, David Baldwin Sanders, her parents Dr. John Browning Baldwin Sr. and Lucile Jones Baldwin, and all of her siblings: Francis Scott “Scotty” Baldwin Sr., John Browning Baldwin Jr., and U.S. Appeals Court Justice Phillip Benjamin Baldwin Sr. and wife Mertie Belamy Baldwin.
Her father’s family predecease her: her grandparents Dr. Benjamin Harrison Baldwin and Amanda Scott Baldwin, her uncle Benjamin Mordecai Baldwin, her aunts Fawn Baldwin Allen and husband Edgar Henry Allen Sr., Fay Baldwin Saunders and husband John Amory Saunders, and Fern Baldwin Schrott and husband John Benton Schrott Sr., her cousins Dr. Edgar Henry Allen Jr. and wife Gloria McKay Allen, Amanda Allen Pierce, and John Benton Schrott Jr.
Her mother’s family predecease her: her grandparents, Solomon Phillip Jones and Minnie Lee Burress Jones, her uncle William Franklin Jones Sr. and wife Hulda Harrison Jones, her aunt Mildred Jones Mahone and husband Lyttleton Womack Mahone, her cousins William Franklin Jones Jr. and wife Elizabeth Francisco Jones, Lyttleton Womack Mahone, and Jerene Jones Winocour.
Mary Jane was blessed to spend the last years of her life at home with her family and in the care of Essie Mae Haggerty, Arlanders (Pop) Davis, Emma Lovely, Hearese (Sis) Moore, Liz Jackson, Bessie Dawson and Helen Johnson.
The funeral service is to be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 23rd of June, 2015, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, where The Rev. Dr. John Himes, Rector, will officiate. Immediately following the funeral service, the family will receive friends for visitation in All Saints’ Hall. The committal service will be at Scottsville Cemetery in Scottsville, Texas.
Pallbearers will be Mary Jane’s nephews and cousins: Francis Scott Baldwin Jr., Samuel Paul Baldwin, Jack Browning Baldwin, William Cameron Clark, Phillip Benjamin Baldwin Jr., Phillip Benjamin Baldwin III, Andrew Browning Baldwin, John Scott Baldwin, William Franklin Jones III, and Jonathan Winocour.
With appreciation, the family suggests that those wishing to honor Mary Jane’s legacy consider donating to a charity of their choosing.
Mary Jane was born on the 17th of September, 1926. She was a fifth generation native of Marshall and the great, great, granddaughter of Harrison County settler, Vesti Gibbs Narrimore, the first woman in Texas to be issued a land grant from the Republic of Texas. “Janie” graduated Marshall High School with honors in 1943, and attended Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity. She was in the second among four generations of women in her family to belong to the fraternity. She completed her education at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, receiving a degree in medical technology, after which she joined the clinical staff at Charity Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Mary Jane wrote and spoke often of two passions: environmental preservation and whole child education. As a youth, she was a counselor at Camp Fern where for six years she taught swimming and canoeing on Fern Lake and Caddo Lake. As a young mother, she was a Cub Scout Den Mother and Camp Fire Girls Leader, sharing her love of bird-watching and her skills in the kitchen. Mary Jane was one of four founders of Trinity Episcopal School in Marshall, established to educate in mind, body and spirit. She served as the board’s first president in 1954. Between 1954 and 2003, she three times served on the school’s executive committee overseeing its fundraising. She found no place more beautiful than Caddo Lake, and maintained a residence there from 1958 until her death. For over 50 years, she worked in organizations dedicated to the lake’s preservation and ecotourism, including the Longpoint Caddo Lake Club, Cypress Valley Navigation District, Red River Valley Association, Greater Caddo Lake Association, Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant Restoration Advisory Board, and Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge Friends Group Board. In 2005, Mary Jane along with her husband was awarded the Forest Conservationist Award from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board. In 2008, they received the Nature Conservancy of Texas Fred and Lucille Dahmer Award.
Mary Jane was christened and confirmed at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, where in her seventies she joined “Papa Jack” teaching Sunday School to pre-schoolers. She was a director of Scottsville Cemetery Association, and a member of the Harrison County Historical Society, The Daughters of the American Revolution, The Daughters of The Republic of Texas, Forum 50 and Club 25. A breast cancer survivor of 33 years, Mary Jane was an early and sustaining supporter of Susan G. Komen and CancerForward: The Foundation For Cancer Survivors.
Mrs. Sanders is survived by her daughter Beth Sanders Moore and husband Jess Moore of Dallas, her son Jack Monroe Sanders Jr. and wife Lynn Sanders of Marshall, her granddaughters Courtney Elizabeth Sanders Hess and husband Jeffrey Ray Hess of Fort Worth, and Rebecca Jane Sanders of Fort Worth and fiancé Taylor Fulton Allred of Wellington. Also surviving her are her step-grandchildren Anthony Frank Cocchiarella of Houston, Gina Cocchiarella Krenek and husband Brian Jeffries Krenek of Columbus, Ohio, along with their children Micah and Cole. Her sister-in-law Cora Lee (Cody) Fein Baldwin of Marshall and Long Boat Key, Florida, survives her as do numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and their children.
She is preceded in death by her devoted husband of 63 years, Dr. Jack Monroe Sanders Sr., her loving son, David Baldwin Sanders, her parents Dr. John Browning Baldwin Sr. and Lucile Jones Baldwin, and all of her siblings: Francis Scott “Scotty” Baldwin Sr., John Browning Baldwin Jr., and U.S. Appeals Court Justice Phillip Benjamin Baldwin Sr. and wife Mertie Belamy Baldwin.
Her father’s family predecease her: her grandparents Dr. Benjamin Harrison Baldwin and Amanda Scott Baldwin, her uncle Benjamin Mordecai Baldwin, her aunts Fawn Baldwin Allen and husband Edgar Henry Allen Sr., Fay Baldwin Saunders and husband John Amory Saunders, and Fern Baldwin Schrott and husband John Benton Schrott Sr., her cousins Dr. Edgar Henry Allen Jr. and wife Gloria McKay Allen, Amanda Allen Pierce, and John Benton Schrott Jr.
Her mother’s family predecease her: her grandparents, Solomon Phillip Jones and Minnie Lee Burress Jones, her uncle William Franklin Jones Sr. and wife Hulda Harrison Jones, her aunt Mildred Jones Mahone and husband Lyttleton Womack Mahone, her cousins William Franklin Jones Jr. and wife Elizabeth Francisco Jones, Lyttleton Womack Mahone, and Jerene Jones Winocour.
Mary Jane was blessed to spend the last years of her life at home with her family and in the care of Essie Mae Haggerty, Arlanders (Pop) Davis, Emma Lovely, Hearese (Sis) Moore, Liz Jackson, Bessie Dawson and Helen Johnson.
The funeral service is to be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 23rd of June, 2015, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, where The Rev. Dr. John Himes, Rector, will officiate. Immediately following the funeral service, the family will receive friends for visitation in All Saints’ Hall. The committal service will be at Scottsville Cemetery in Scottsville, Texas.
Pallbearers will be Mary Jane’s nephews and cousins: Francis Scott Baldwin Jr., Samuel Paul Baldwin, Jack Browning Baldwin, William Cameron Clark, Phillip Benjamin Baldwin Jr., Phillip Benjamin Baldwin III, Andrew Browning Baldwin, John Scott Baldwin, William Franklin Jones III, and Jonathan Winocour.
With appreciation, the family suggests that those wishing to honor Mary Jane’s legacy consider donating to a charity of their choosing.
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