Mary Jane "MJ" Parmer

Mary Jane “MJ” Parmer, passed away peacefully at her home on Sunday, February 5, 2017 with her niece by her side. On January 14, 1929, Mary Jane was delivered, by her father, at the family home on Cabbage Hill, where she lived for several decades. In her 30’s, MJ moved one block to Mulberry St. and lived there for over 45 years. In November of 2016, her niece’s family packed all her treasures and moved her to Willow Street to be closer to her loved ones. Mary Jane had given so much of herself to family for so many years, it was time to give back in a bigger way. There, she enjoyed daily outings and setting up house and decorating her “new place” in a big and bright cheery environment. She was the daughter of the late Robert E, Sr. and Esther Suter Parmer. She was the 9th of 14 children, the 2nd daughter of 5 girls. Survivors include 1 brother, Earl (Carol) of Willow Street and 1 sister, Nancy Majchrzak, of New York. Mary Jane was preceded in death by siblings: Elwood, Bobby, Myrtle (Earl) Leibley, Chap (Jean), Kenny (Doris), Ritchie, Harry, Samuel, Betty Snyder (Bob), Gail Mongeau (Bob) & Jerry. “Aunt MJ” is also survived by many, many nieces and nephews, and a very large extended family. MJ never drove a car beyond two, shall we say, “unsuccessful” test drives. She had a permit once, and even purchased a car, but, for the aforementioned reasons, never tested for her driver’s license. And she didn’t care! She walked everywhere…or took a bus. She crossed town daily on foot to get to her job at Kerr Glass Manufacturing for over 45 years. She still had her teenage figure and was in better shape than most of us until the end. She achieved this by walking…to Market, downtown and other shopping centers. She loved Watt & Shand & shopping & “handbags”, clothes and shoes…electronics and gadgets. In later years she would take a bus (she knew the bus schedule by heart) to Park City or a local shopping strip almost daily and walked and talked and handed out candy to all the friends she made in the stores. Mary Jane fell in love in her 30’s and became engaged to Valentin Pankow, a co-worker from Russia, who worked with her at Pensupreme making ice cream products. They planned to marry in the summer of 1965. Sadly, he passed away the week before their wedding. There was never another love to replace him. Random thoughts on MJ: Although she never joined a club, she behaved like she was the CEO of every company she did business with. She called Turkey Hill to offer her 2 cents on every new flavor of ice cream they released. She called other companies to give her critique of their products as well. She was always willing to ride along with friends or family anywhere – from the malls to the beach or a quick trip to Amelia’s. . Mary Jane loved the sunshine, whether it was at Rehoboth Beach, on her porch at home, or someone else’s back yard… she loved soaking in the rays. She loved parties and music (from Celine Dion to Pitbull, because of his generous nature) She “ruled” downtown Lancaster for many years like she was the Queen of Mulberry Street, which some were known to call her. She would often tell us of stopping Mayor Stork, Smithgall or Gray on the street to give her opinion on what Lancaster needed to be a better place to live. And last of all, she was all about women and how smart they were and how tough they were and how she wanted to see one be president. On that note: She didn’t care which party they were with, either. She once told her niece she’d take Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton as president-she just wanted to see a woman in that office. Mary Jane Parmer was one of a kind: she spoke her mind, then let it go, never holding a grudge, she had sparkling blue eyes, a big smile with lipstick painted lips framing it. MJ was sassy, but friendly. Her niece’s posts of her on Facebook drew many new people to love her wisecracks and warmth. She loved and was loved by many. Earth’s loss of Mary Jane is definitively heaven’s gain. Relatives and friends are invited to attend Mary Jane’s Funeral Service at The Groff Family Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc., 528 W. Orange Street (corner of W. Orange & Pine Streets), Lancaster, PA 17603 on Monday, February 13, 2017 at 11:00 A.M. The family will receive friends on Sunday, February 12, 2017 at The Groff’s from 2:00 – 4:00 P.M. and on Monday from 10:00 A.M. until time of service. A reception will follow the viewing on Sunday at Pheasant Run, 200 Marticville Road, Lancaster, PA at 5:00 P.M. Interment will take place on Monday at Conestoga Memorial Park.