Mary Jane McDonald, 79, of Indianapolis, passed away peacefully at home on November 1, 2018. She was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 6, 1939, to Joseph and Gertrude Kearns.

Mary Jane grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from St. John’s University, the first woman in her family to graduate college. She married St. John’s classmate Jim McDonald, a photographer, on November 4, 1961, and settled in Queens, New York. After a brief career in publishing, she stayed home to care for her five children. With her family, she lived in Rochester, New York, and Chicago, Illinois, settling in Indianapolis in 2001 after her husband’s death.

After raising the children, Mary Jane made a successful career as a talented corporate writer and public relations professional. She greatly enjoyed books, her grandchildren, and travel to places such as Dublin, Vienna, and Paris, and many trips to her beloved Pacific Ocean in Hawaii and along the California coast.

She maintained close ties with family and friends in Indianapolis and around the country.

Mary Jane is survived by five children, Jim (Deanna) of Palo Alto, California, David (Denise) of Kailua, Hawaii, Jeanne (Andrew) of Indianapolis, Susan (Gary) of Cambridge, England, and Claire (Robert) of Rockville, Maryland; six grandchildren, Sarah, David, Joe, Kiana, Adam, and Alexander; her brother Raymond (Carolyn) Kearns of Phoenix, Arizona. ; her dear sisters-in-law Claire Marra of Danbury, Connecticut, and Trudy Kearns of Norfolk, Virginia; and many nieces, nephews, and good friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, James McDonald, after nearly 40 years of marriage, and by her parents and her brothers Joseph, George, Richard, and David Kearns and Jerome Wood.

A celebration of her life will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, December 1, 2018, at St. Pius X Church, Indianapolis.

​Arrangements: Indiana Funeral Care​