Mary "Jane" McLay

Mary "Jane" McLay (nee Leighton), 81, of Oberlin, died April 24, 2010.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Wallace D. McLay, in 1988.

Mrs. McLay was born March 29, 1929, in Chicago, moved to New York City at the age of 4 and attended the Little Red School House until the age of 11 when she moved to Highland Park, Mich. After graduating from Highland Park High School, she earned a bachelor of education degree from the University of Iowa and a teaching certificate from Wayne State University in Detroit. A 35-year resident of Pontiac, Mich., she was an elementary school teacher at Longfellow School in Pontiac for more than 30 years and moved to Oberlin after she retired. She was a very dedicated teacher who truly loved her students and her teaching colleagues.

Mrs. McLay was a very enthusiastic person and was actively involved with many organizations over her lifetime. She was always active in her community and helped many people. Her many interests included women's rights, social justice and peace. She was avidly interested in art, classical music, travel, organic foods, health and wellness, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, nature, writing, gardening, hiking and camping. She enthused her friends and family, and inspired her children and grandchildren.

Jane will be dearly missed by children Celia "Cici" McLay of Dedham, Mass.; Ruth McLay Zanoni of Columbia, Md.; Elizabeth "Beckie" McLay Irons of Pickaway, W.Va.; Catherine Sutton McLay and Daniel Wallace McLay, both of Spokane, Wash; sister Celia Scott of Santa Cruz, Calif.; nephews Anthony and Roland Von der Muhll, grandchildren Rachel and Ryan Zanoni and step- grandchildren Justin and Trevor Merrill, Sara McLay-Berger and Trevor, Deedee, and Molly McLay.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Wallace D. McLay, in 1988.

Memorial donations may be made to Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), 565 Boylston Street, Second Floor, Boston, Mass., 02116 (www.wilpf.org); Little Red School House, 40 Charlton Street, New York, NY 10014-4923 (www.lrei.org); or the Alzheimer's Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011 (www.alz.org). A memorial service was held Saturday, June 5, 2010, at Kendal at Oberlin. Another memorial service will be held in the Detroit, Mich., area on Saturday, July 24, location and time yet to be scheduled; contact her daughter Cici McLay at cicimclay@gmail.com or 207-843-6165 for more information. Dicken Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Elyria handled arrangements.