Jane Woodin Mallory

May 31, 1925 - December 03, 2020


Jane Woodin Mallory
Age 95, a resident of Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community in Cranberry Township, PA, died on Thursday, December 3, 2020. Jane was born on May 31, 1925, in Dunkirk, New York, 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 one 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 US 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, NY, 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, PA, a son, Hampton (Lauren Scott) of Glenshaw, PA, grandchildren Claire and Evan, and great-granddaughters Juniper and Phoebe.

Professional Arrangements Entrusted to Devlin Funeral Home of Cranberry.

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