Mary Jane “MJ” Staymates
PHOENIX – Mary Jane “MJ” Staymates, 97, passed away on November 5, 2018. Born in 1921, Jane lived in the home built by her father in Congress, AZ. During the summer of 1926, Jane’s family moved to Phoenix to run the family dairy, where she helped by milking cows and collecting eggs. Jane attended Longfellow and Wilson Elementary Schools, Phoenix Union High School, and Phoenix College. Her first job was at The Boston Store (1938) in downtown Phoenix; her last was with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1940-1967), where she started as a switchboard operator and met the love of her life, Blair Eugene Staymates, Sr. They were married in Tucson in 1944 and lived there until 1958 when they returned to Phoenix. Blair and Jane then moved to San Francisco in 1968. She nearly single-handedly restored their elegant 1878 Victorian home. In 1991, Jane returned again to Phoenix, after finding the second love of her life – El Oeste Lodge, a historic property on Camelback Mountain. From the moment she walked onto the grounds of her desert jewel, she never looked back. She spent more than a quarter of a century nurturing native plants and developing treasured friendships with people at and around El Oeste.
MJ was a lover of animals, gardening, antiques and music. She also had a life-long interest in Native American history and culture, having discovered many Indian artifacts in her childhood backyard. Her first “real” purchase was a $20 Concho belt ($5 down, $5/week) that she continued to wear and enjoy throughout her life.
Jane was preceded in death by her husband Blair Sr. She is survived by children Suzanne (Les), Blair Jr., Kathy (Carl) and Shelley; grandchildren Heather (Eric), Sean (Lauren) and Anthony (Cassie); great-grandchildren Abbey, Amelia and Liam; and sister Phyllis (Frank) Saylor.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 am Saturday, December 8, 2018 at Hansen Chapel, 8314 N. 7th Street, Phoenix 85020. In lieu of flowers, please remember one of MJ’s favorite charities: The Salvation Army at http://www.salvationarmy. org or ChildFund at http://www.childfund.org. Visit https://www.hansenmortuary.com for condolences.