Mary Jane Fee

October 19, 1924 - December 10, 2021

LA JOLLA, CA — Mary Jane Fee passed away peacefully in her home on Friday, December 10, 2021, surrounded by family. She was born on October 19, 1924, in Chicago.

After living in Chicago for the first years of her life, she moved with her family to the San Diego area and was raised on an avocado farm in National City with her brothers Herman, Richard, and younger brother, Joseph Fritzenkotter. She attended Our Lady of Peace Academy in San Diego and graduated in 1943. From there, she attended Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, but came back to San Diego due to her older brothers’ enlistment in WWII to help with the farm.

She did go back to college, this time San Diego State College, and graduated in 1949 with a degree in Zoology. She was a member of Phi Kappa Gamma sorority with her future sister-inlaw Pat while attending San Diego State. After graduating, she became a Lab Technician at Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest.

While a member of the Friday Club in San Diego, she met Jerome E. Fee, with whom she married in 1958 and had six children, Fred, Jerome, Jeffrey, Michael, Susan, and Lorie, who always had “the fun” Mom. She was married to Jerry for 42 years, until his passing in 2001.

She was an active leader in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for many years and was an avid traveler, gardener, reader, and artist. Mary Jane loved to travel with her husband and children. She also loved collecting – elephants, antiques, and sometimes people. She had a big heart and was always trying to help others. Her warmth was felt by so many, and she was always trying to make the world a more beautiful place. MJ also loved to garden and was well known for her skill with flowers. She discovered painting later in life but jumped in enthusiastically. Towards the end of her life, painting gave her much comfort and left us with a lovely visual legacy of her life.

She is survived by her six children, as well as her brother Joseph. Services will be held at 10am on December 22, 2021 at her parish of over 60 years, All Hallows Catholic Church in La Jolla. She will be interred at Holy Cross Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to Fr. Joe’s Villages in San Diego.

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