Mary Bolton Porter

Mary Jane Porter, age 95, died peacefully on the morning of February 16, 2020.

She was born on August 21, 1924 to Fred Iverne and Doris Doolittle Bolton in Northfield, Massachusetts. She graduated from the Northfield High School, and after attending the University of Massachusetts for one year, went to the nursing school in St. Johnsbury, Vermont to become a RN. She worked for more than thirty years at the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital in Brattleboro, Vermont, leaving as the Operating Room Supervisor. She then became charge nurse at Vernon Green Nursing Home in Vernon, Vermont. Building on her interest in antiques, after retiring from Vernon Green, she went to work at Historic Deerfield Village in Massachusetts, serving as a master guide until she was 88.

She was active in community affairs serving on the board of directors of the Centre Congregational Church and the Holton Home in Brattleboro, Vermont and the Council on Aging in Northfield, Massachusetts. Surprising to her friends, as she was not known for her culinary skills, she also volunteered to cook at Loaves and Fishes in Brattleboro, Vermont serving meals to the homeless.

She is survived by her son, William T. Porter of Northfield and daughter Jane Porter (Robert) Kolodner of Columbia, Maryland; two grandsons, W. Benjamin (Shiva) Kolodner of Christ Church, New Zealand, and Alexander (Carolyn) Kolodner of Silver Spring, Maryland; a great grandson, Kian Kolodner of Christ Church, New Zealand and a great granddaughter, Lena Kolodner of Silver Spring, Maryland. Her husband, William C. Porter, Jr. predeceased her in 1960.

An open house will be held in Columbia, MD on March 1, 2020 from 5-8pm. Please contact the family for further details.

A memorial service will be held in August 2020 in Northfield, MA.

Donations – in lieu of flowers – should be made to your local food bank or homeless shelter.

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