Jane Mallory
Jane Woodin Mallory, 95, a resident of Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community in Cranberry Township died Thursday, Dec, 3, 2020.
Jane was born May 31, 1925, in Dunkirk, N.Y., the daughter of Glenn W. and Elizabeth Graves Woodin, and the youngest of four children.
She graduated from the University of Rochester, with a degree in English, Phi Beta Kappa, and taught high school English at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, and later at Sidwell Friends School, in Washington, D.C.
While Jane was living in the D.C. area, she went on a blind date with George Mallory, having been introduced by a mutual friend. Within weeks, Jane and George were engaged to be married. A few months after their marriage in May of 1948, the two of them were off to Shanghai, China, where George was officially posted as a vice consul in the U.S. Embassy, but was actually working as an intelligence operations officer with the newly formed CIA.
Shanghai was only the first in a long series of overseas sojourns to follow, including Hong Kong, Kamakura, Tokyo, Taipei, London and Saigon. In every new place, Jane involved herself in community and cultural activities, whether it meant learning Japanese, volunteering to help in local orphanages, entertaining, or participating in social events organized by the expat community in each foreign country. In Saigon, near the end of the Vietnam War, Jane welcomed a number of relatives of their small household staff, who sought shelter from the deprivations of the time.
After George retired, Jane and her husband moved back to Fredonia, N.Y., near where she had grown up. There she continued to be active in community affairs as a member and leader of the League of Women Voters and the Fredonia Shakespeare Club.
Throughout her life, Jane enjoyed music, played the piano and frequently attended concerts. She loved to read, and reread the complete works of Dickens numerous times.
As the youngest member of her Woodin family, Jane became the matriarch and communications center for her numerous nephews and nieces, after her siblings passed away. She liked hearing about their activities and expanding families, and shared family news, usually by writing much appreciated notes and letters.
In 2005, Jane and George moved to Sherwood Oaks, where she served as a leader for the resident’s association and the Sherwood Oaks Library Board. For several years, she led an avid group of water aerobics enthusiasts in regular exercise.
She is survived by her husband, George W. Mallory of Cranberry Township; a son, Hampton (Lauren Scott) of Glenshaw; her grandchildren, Claire and Evan; and her great-granddaughters, Juniper and Phoebe.
MALLORY — Professional arrangements for Jane Woodin Mallory, who died Thursday, Dec, 3, 2020, were entrusted to Devlin Funeral Home of Cranberry.
Please visit www.devlinfuneralhome.com.
