Mary Jane Lee Obituary

Mary Jane Lee, aged 79, passed away suddenly on the night of August 11, 2024, in Sacramento, CA, due to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Born on January 13, 1945, in Columbus, OH, she was a cherished figure in her community and an accomplished academic.

A Celebration of Life for Mary Jane will be held at St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church on Friday, August 30, 2024, with a mass starting at 1pm PDT, followed by a reception at the same location. There will be an opportunity for guests to share memories of Mary Jane during the reception, and are encouraged to do so. Lombard Funeral Home by Dignity Memorial is assisting with the arrangements. Wearing black is always acceptable, although as part of Chinese tradition, we encourage you to wear white, or Mary Jane's favorite color, purple, in her memory. For those who cannot be with us in person, an alternative livestream option will be available at the following links:

-Mass (1pm-2pm PDT): https://youtube.com/live/50FChNdpIok?feature=share
-Reception (2pm-4pm PDT): https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/c24087055982215

Please send any flower arrangements to the funeral home, if prior to service date, or the service location here: 3235 Arden Way, Sacramento, CA 95825. If you would like to send anything else, please reach out to Isabella for their home address.

She is survived by her daughters, Isabella and Angelina Lee; siblings, Irene (Jerry) Scott, Mildred (John) Quan, and Eugene, Paul (Tsui), and Gina Lee; and a host of nieces and nephews. Mary Jane was preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Ernst; and her parents, Gim and Fung Kwai Lee.

Mary Jane's early education was completed at St. Joseph Cathedral and Mohawk Junior High, followed by Central High School in 1963. She furthered her education at The Ohio State University, earning education and computer science degrees in '66 (BS), '71 (MS), and '78 (PhD). She was also a founding member of OSU's Asian American Association student organization, which still exists today. Mary Jane dedicated much of her career to academia, serving as an Assistant Professor of computer science at North Carolina State University and Northern Arizona University, before joining California State University, Sacramento. There, she excelled as an Associate Dean of the Engineering and Computer Science department (nine years), alongside being an Associate Professor to Professor of computer science until her full retirement in 2019.

Mary Jane's life was marked by her loving, kind, and considerate nature. She was a respected colleague, mentor, friend, and family member, and a wise and gentle soul who will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Legacy Remembers on Sep. 6, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for Mary Jane Lee

5 Entries

Matt Hamarneh

August 30, 2024

Rest In Peace
You you are an amazing and sweet person and you have amazing daughters.

Matt Hamarneh

Jocelyn Scott

August 28, 2024

August 28, 2024

Dear Isabella, Angelina, Reenie, Mildy, Eugene, Paul, and Gina,

Our hearts were truly saddened when we learned last week that Mary Jane had passed. Mary was not only brilliant, but she was also an educator par excellence! She very graciously and generously shared her knowledge, her time, and her talent for teaching with others. We are witnesses to this in that she tutored all three of us in chemistry at some point during our high school and college years. She would come to my parents´ home and work with us for long hours at the end of her workdays at OSU, and she would not leave until she was certain that we understood the material! When I took a computer science class at OSU, Mary would take me to her office on campus to help me write and run programs! All of us agreed that we NEVER would have made it through these courses without Mary´s exceptional knowledge and her patient help and support.

When Jerry and Reenie would come to Columbus from wherever they were stationed at the time, Mary and Mildy would often come to my parents´ home to spend time with us. One requirement of anyone visiting my mother´s house was that they had to eat her food, which Mary always enjoyed! She was particularly fond of her sweet potato pies, and my mom would sometimes bake a pie just for Mary to take home with her!

Mary Jane was a very special lady and she will always be a special part of our family. In addition to being smart, she was always warm and pleasant, with a quiet, gentle spirit. We will always be grateful to her for sharing her time, talent, and patience to help us with our class work, and she never made us feel dumb or stupid when we had difficulty grasping the information she was trying to teach us! In recognition of her teaching excellence, we have made a donation of $250 in her memory to California State University, Sacramento.

Please know that we share in your loss, and continue to pray that the love of God, the presence of family and friends, and fond memories of Mary Jane will bring you much peace and comfort in the days and weeks to come.

With love and deepest sympathy,
Eileen, Elaine, and Juggy

Art Pyster

Planted Trees

Barbie Light

August 20, 2024

Montessori pre school when our daughters Kelli Ann and Isabella met and became best friends and our friendship journey began. Love you gf XXOOX Barbie,John and Kelli Ann

Barbie Light

August 20, 2024

Montessori school when my daughter and Isabella in pre school met and became best friends instantly and our friendship journey began. Unfortunately we both got Parkinson´s . Miss you gf xxxxxxx Barbie , Kelli Ann and John

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 results