Mary Ann Jensen

The Rev. Mary Ann Jensen, deacon in the Diocese of New Jersey, died Tuesday, March 4, in the Princeton Care Center, after an extended illness.

Mary Ann was born on November 24, 1936, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Danish immigrants, Anna Marie and Marinus C. Jensen. At a very young age, she felt called to a life in the theater and to a life in prayer. When just a little girl, she wrote plays, which she and her friends performed in a theater constructed by her father, while her mother taught her to pray while she was still sleeping in a crib.

Mary Ann earned a bachelor of arts degree with a major in theater from Milwaukee-Downer College (Lawrence University) in 1958 and did graduate work in theater at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked in professional theater from 1958-1960 and was assistant director of the Wisconsin Center for Theater Research from 1963-1966. From 1966 until her retirement in 2000, she was curator of the William Seymour Theater Collection in the Princeton University Library. She served on the editorial board of the Princeton University Library Chronicle. She was the author of numerous publications on the subject of theater history, including “From Strolling Players to Steven Spielberg: 100 Years of a Theatrical Family,” and was president of the Theater Library Association. She maintained her interest in professional theater and, in December 1978, produced and directed Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in the theatre of Princeton University’s Wilson College. She was co-curator of the 1995 exhibition in Princeton’s Firestone Library titled “Oscar Wilde: A Writer for the Nineties,” which celebrated the centenary of two Wilde plays, The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband.

Mary Ann was accepted into the formation program for the diaconate in the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey in 1977 and was ordained in 2001. As deacon, she worked with those suffering from addiction, facilitated a bereavement group, worked in food pantries and soup kitchens, assisted in a crisis ministry, and served as a hospital chaplain. She served as associate archivist of the diocese and as a member of the Diocesan Committee for Episcopal Recovery Ministries. She served as deacon at All Saints’ Church Princeton from 2004 until her death. At All Saints’, she offered pastoral care to parishioners, served as a liturgical associate for services, was a member of the Outreach Committee, the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration Committee, the Liturgy and Music Committee, and represented the church as a board member of Princeton Community Housing. She served as the church archivist, was responsible for Lay Eucharistic Ministries, and was a home and hospital visitor.

Mary Ann’s special interests were liturgics, the ballet, music, church history, and nineteenth-century theater history. She was a discerner in the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, a group of approximately 700 women, members of the Anglican Communion, called to live individual lives under a rule of intercessory prayer, thanksgiving, and simplicity of life. Companions pray and act with intentional concern for three themes: the unity of all God’s people, God’s mission in the world, and social justice. She was to have been admitted as a Companion on Saturday, March 8.

Mary Ann is survived by her church family, her many friends and colleagues, and the Companions of the Holy Cross.

Funeral services will take place at All Saints’ Church at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 13. Interment will take place in the Trinity-All Saints’ Cemetery, and a reception in the church will follow. Memorial donations may be made to All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 16 All Saints’ Road, Princeton N.J. 08540, or to the charity of your choice.

Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

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Ruth Meyrowitz Shaw

Ruth Shaw passed away peacefully on Monday, March 3, 2014. Ruth was born November 17, 1923 in Englewood, N.J. She was a graduate of New Rochelle High School, where she was a drum majorette, and Lasell Junior College. In 1945, she married her high school sweetheart Don Shaw. Together they raised three daughters in Princeton. They retired to Sarasota, Fla. in 1989, and after Don’s passing in 2007, Ruth settled at Pennswood Village in Newtown, Pa.

While living in Princeton, Ruth enjoyed playing golf with Don and their wide circle of friends at Springdale Golf Club. Ruth enjoyed the ever-present challenge of improving her game, the friendly competition, and most of all, the fun-loving and lively group of dear friends with whom she bonded over the years. Everywhere she lived, Ruth befriended her neighbors, who became life-long friends.

Ruth had a good sense of humor and an active mind. She enjoyed a variety of activities including Shakespeare class, Bible study, and excursions to museums and concerts.

A memorial service was held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton.

Ruth is pre-deceased by her husband Don, and sister Dorothy Hawley. She is survived by daughters Nancy Norland (husband Rick) of Titusville, Susan Shaw of Novato, Calif., and Sandy Shaw of Hailey, Idaho; and two grandsons, Mike Norland of San Francisco, Calif. and Sam Strong of Hailey, Iaho.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Dial Hope Foundation, P.O. Box 953, Sarasota, Fla. 34230, or to the charity of your choice.

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Edna W. Willis

Edna W. Willis, 84, died on March 1, 2014. She was born in Atlanta, Ga. on June 24, 1929 to her parents, Gladys Galloway and Emmett Guthrie. 

Edna was employed in the accounting department at the Princeton Medical Center. She was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton for many years where she served as treasurer and was for a time, the president of the Women’s Alliance. Edna was a very accomplished quilter, and enjoyed traveling and gardening. She and her husband lived in Princeton for forty years and the past ten years at the Stonebridge Retirement Community in Montgomery.

Edna is survived by her husband of nearly 57 years, Sidney L. Willis; her two sons and their wives, John and Patricia Willis of Jacksonville, Fla., and Robert and Suzanne Willis of Ridgewood, N.J.; two grandchildren, Ryan Willis and his wife Cheri of Charlottesville, Va, and Sarah Willis of Brooklyn, N.Y. She was predeceased by her sister and brother.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on April 19 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Princeton.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, located at 50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton, N.J., 08540.

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John Swan Weatherley

John Swan Weatherley, 62, passed away peacefully at his home in New Canaan, Connecticut, on March 5, 2014. Formerly a resident of Ridgefield, Connecticut for 23 years, John was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather.

Born in 1951 in Greenwich, Connecticut, John is survived by his wife, Susan Weatherley. He leaves his children James Simpson, Jebb Atkinson, Zoe Smith, and Noel Miller along with five grandchildren and three sisters. His parents, now deceased, were Jack and Ruth Weatherley of Bridgewater, Connecticut.
John graduated from Dartmouth College where he received a B.A. Magna Cum Laude with Distinction in anthropology. A life-long learner, John continued his studies at Princeton University where he attended graduate school and earned an M.S. in anthropology. John was a Fulbright Scholar and a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity. His interests included the study of cultures, which led him to France where he attended the Universite Paris Sorbonne and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes.

From 1978 to 1989, he was owner of Weatherley Building Company in Princeton. John went on to serve as Managing Owner of Berwick Land Corporation of New York from 1989 to 2006. For more than 40 years, John served as an active member of The Gurdjieff Foundation of New York.

Aside from his service to others, friends will remember John’s generosity, his spirit for life, and his love of nature and the arts. As a couple, John and Susan enjoyed traveling and spent much of their time in Nantucket, Massachusetts and Rockport, Maine.

In celebration of John’s life, a memorial service is planned for the spring.

Charitable contributions may be made under John’s name to: Doctors Without Borders, 333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, N.Y. 10001-5004, (212) 679-6800; or Coastal Mountains Land Trust, 101 Mt. Battie Street, Camden, Maine 04843, (207) 236-7091.