Mary "Louise" Jones

Mary L. Jones (Louise to her family) of Malden passed away on January 1st, 2026. Born and raised in Virginia, she was the cherished daughter of Junius Jones and Maggie Vanall. Mary was the beloved wife of Dana Johnson, with whom she shared many loving years of marriage. She was the “second mother” to several young children, taking them fun places and doing fun activities as often as possible.

Mary moved to Boston soon after graduation and lived with her Aunt Sarah, Uncle John and her young cousins, JoAnne and Althea, who loved having acquired an “older sister”, and acted as younger siblings are apt to act, by investigating all the fascinating things that an older sibling would have.  The close relationship with her cousins continued throughout their lives. Mary later moved to Medford and then to Malden, where she spent the last half of her life.

Mary worked originally for Raytheon but moved over to Teradyne, where she was a group leader, building test equipment.  She was well known by the CEO who once stated, “if Mary burned the building down, I would assume she had a good reason for doing so.”  She retired from Teradyne in her 50’s and then took an evening security job near North Station, coincidentally at the same time that North Station was being demolished. She would periodically call Dana at 11:30 at night when some interesting demolition was going on and have Dana bring her videocamera, so she could record the demolition.  

Mary had a deep love for trains, and any visitor to her home would soon find themselves in her special train room, admiring her impressive model train collection and working train sets.  She set up train sets and villages around the Christmas tree and was so concerned about the setups that she nailed 2x4s to the floor to protect them. She also enjoyed traveling, often going to Europe with extended family and friends and around the country. In her later years, she found great joy in attending concerts and plays with her wife.

Mary was the vacation videographer.  She liked being in the background, where she would allow her sense of humor to shine (which no one knew about until they later saw the videos).

Her humor was also evident when her memory began to decline ("I have short term memory loss but never remember that I have it”) and in her choice of T-shirts and sweatshirts with humorous sayings.

Mary is survived by her wife, Dana Johnson of Malden, and her brother, JJ Jones of Portsmouth, VA, along with many other family members and friends. She was predeceased by her parents, Maggie Vanall and Junius Jones, as well as her sister, Rosa Green. She will be greatly missed.

Donations in Mary’s name can be made to the Zonta Scholarship Fund or the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Funeral services will be held at the Weir-MacCuish Golden Rule Funeral Home, 144 Salem ST Malden, on Friday, January 16th, at 12 noon, with Visitation from 10 -12.   

Interment will follow in Forest Dale Cemetery, Malden. 

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