Mary Jean Damron

Mary Jean (Brown) Damron, 88, of Berrien Springs, MI, passed away on Sunday, January 31, 2021, at Hamilton Grove in New Carlisle, Indiana. Mary Jean was born July 23, 1932, in Winter Garden, Florida where she grew up the oldest of three children. Her parents were hard working and she would help the family a lot, especially with the cooking. She would often make beans and cornbread for supper. She also loved to fish with her father. This was something she enjoyed doing her entire life, especially when up north at the family cabin with her children and grandchildren. In high school she was nicknamed “Brownie” by her friends. She later attended Southern Missionary College in Collegedale, Tennessee, where she graduated with a medical secretarial degree and met her future husband, Chester H. Damron. They married shortly after she graduated from college and before long they added to their family with the births of Don and Debi. After Chester finished the seminary, the family accepted a mission appointment in Bangkok, Thailand, traveling there on a month-long journey aboard a cargo ship. They lived in Southeast Asia for the better part of 15 years serving in Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. While living in Indonesia, their youngest child, Delisa, was born. Mary Jean put her medical secretarial training to good use doing a number of jobs including the role of being a school nurse! She loved those years living in Southeast Asia and always enjoyed sharing stories of their time there. In 1975 the family moved to Berrien Springs, Michigan, where they both worked for Andrews University, Chester as a campus chaplain and Mary Jean as an administrative assistant at Ruth Murdoch Elementary School. In 1986 they moved to Florida where she worked for the Adventist Health System until she retired and shortly thereafter moved back to Berrien Springs in 2000. Mary Jean loved to play golf and tennis as well as swim. She even enjoyed water skiing in her younger years. She was truly a loving mother, always putting her children’s needs first. She was very creative and had an eye for decorating. She would put out her best dishes and decorations for family birthday celebrations! She also loved to sew and crochet. She was a wonderful cook and a family favorite was warm fruit soup with ice cream on Friday nights. Mary Jean held on to her Thai and Indonesian languages she had learned and enjoyed using them frequently. She particularly liked Thai and Indian food and mango ice cream!! She cherished her religious beliefs and always knew she was a child of God. She loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren and dearly loved holding them especially when they were infants. In her latter years she greatly enjoyed her dogs, Pierre and Lou, and enjoyed doing word-finds and coloring in her books. Her parents, brother and sister preceded her in death. She is survived by her children: Don (Elise) Damron, Debi (Stan) Bennett and Delisa (Matthew) Purchase; five grandchildren: Casey (Sarah) Damron, Jason (Lauren) Streelman, Cali (Bill) Dudgeon, Ryan (Laura) Streelman and Ellie Purchase; five great grandchildren: Jackson, Briella, Lydia, Carter and Blaire and another baby girl on the way. She also had several nieces and nephews. A private celebration of Mary Jean’s life will be held at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to The Humane Society of Southwest Michigan, https://www.humanesocietyswm.org or mailed to 5400 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085.