Marion Louise (Davis) Mayo

Peterborough NH — Marion Louise (Davis) Mayo, 95, of Peterborough, NH passed away on Monday, July 25th at Summerhill Assisted Living after a period of declining health.

She was born on March 2nd, 1927 in Keene, NH to Bertha (Saltzgiver) and Sidney Oscar Davis. She was the middle child of 5 Davis children and lived for a short time in Marlow, NH before moving to Keene, where she grew up. She attended Symonds Elementary school and Keene High School, graduating in 1945.

While in high school she played on the girls basketball team and also met her future husband, Robert (Bob) Mayo. They were married on July 10, 1948 and moved to Melrose, MA while Bob finished his education at Tufts College. They later lived in Norfolk, VA and Eliot, ME during Bob's time in the U.S. Navy and finally settled in West Granby, CT where together they built the house where they raised their family and spent the next 53 years.

Marion was an active member of West Granby Methodist Church and served in many capacities over the years, including President of the Women's Society, Lay Leader, Singing in the Choir and running the church suppers. Her last unofficial position was as "Scooter the Clown", where she entered the sanctuary on a scooter, dressed in a clown suit to deliver the children's message on Sunday mornings. She was also active in the local chapter of the YWCA, where she volunteered her time for many years.

In addition to her volunteer work, she held several jobs over the years beginning in high school at J.J. Newbury's in Keene and also at Keene National Bank. For a time, she drove a school bus in Granby, before settling into her final job as office manager for the Granby Public Health Nurses Association. She also raised Gordon Setter puppies for several years - more of a hobby than a serious money-making venture. She loved dogs and the family always had at least one and often more. She only tolerated cats, since as a girl one cat had kittens on her bed.

Somewhere around the age of 55, Marion and Bob decided to take an early retirement and searched for some volunteer work to occupy their time. They became involved with Habitat for Humanity and moved for three years to Americus, GA where Marion worked in the accounts payable and Bob helped to establish new habitat affiliates around the country. Returning to CT, they founded the Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity and Bob served as its first president while Marion chaired the family selection committee. While with habitat, Bob and Marion had the opportunity to travel to India and Mexico on special habitat projects and also met former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn. The chapter of habitat they helped start is still going strong today.

Marion was proudest of the home she and Bob created in West Granby, a house they built themselves in 1957 and where she hosted countless family gatherings over the years. She also took great pride in the summer cottage she and Bob built together on the coast of Maine in 1972; a cottage which remains in the family today.

Marion will best be remembered for her warm smile, her quick sense of humor, her patience with children and her gift of song. She could come up with a song in an instant and always surprised her family with how many she knew. When getting her kids up for school, she always did it with a song (something that wasn't always welcomed by sleepy teenagers)! She will also be remembered for her cooking, and she loved to bake cookies with her grandchildren. Her apple pie was legendary. Her daughter-in-law once marveled at how she could put a meal on the table to feed eight people when it seemed there was nothing in the fridge. Marion was also a life-long Red Sox fan and a fan of the UConn Huskies basketball team, especially the women.

Marion is survived by her brother Sidney Davis Jr. (Judy) of Port Orange FL and her four children, Robert Mayo (Susan) of Peterborough, NH, Kathryn Perkins (William) of Burlington, CT, Margaret Pickholtz (Bruce) of Coral Springs, FL and William Mayo of Granby, CT. Also left to remember her are her six grandchildren, Robert Mayo, Joseph Mayo (Maren), David Pickholtz (Ashley), Harris Pickholtz, Emily Nettleton (Brian) and Ellen Perkins (fiancé Yan Hughes). She also leaves eight great grandchildren, Julian and Adeline Mayo, Micah and Elin Mayo, Sasha and Elise Pickholtz, and Colter and Boden Nettleton. She also leaves a brother-in-law, Charles Lesure of Shelburne Falls, MA.

She was predeceased by her parents, Sidney and Bertha Davis, and her sisters and brothers-in-law Mabel and Wesley Wiggett, Ruth and Calvin Frink, Audrey Lesure and Benjamin Hall. Also, sisters-in-law Pauline Trian, Alice Mayo and nephews Thomas Hall, Dana Wyman, Charles Mayo and George Trian.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity, 75 Charter Oak Avenue, B- 2, Suite 205, Hartford, CT 06106 or hartfordhabitat.org. A celebration of Marion's life will be held at a time yet to be determined. Burial will be in Granby Center Cemetery, Granby, CT.

The family wishes to extend our gratitude to the caring staff and residents at Summerhill Assisted Living who helped make Marion feel comfortable and loved during her final years.

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

Published by Monadnock Ledger-Transcript on Aug. 9, 2022.

Memories and Condolences
for Marion Mayo

3 Entries

Clive Rainey

August 30, 2022

Habitat for Humanity was founded upon and thrives to this day 46 years later because of dedicated volunteers like Bob and Marion Mayo! I had the privilege of knowing and working with them, of visiting in their home on a speaking trip to West Granby and Hartford. It was one of the great joys of all of us a Habitat International headquarters in Americus, GA when Bob and Marion would return each winter to
volunteer here - two of our favorite snowbirds! Rest in peace dear friend. Well done, good and faithful servant.

How you can show support

Get email updates whenever changes are made.

Send flowers

Consider sending flowers.

Add photos

Share their life with photo memories.

Plant trees

Honor them by planting trees in their memory.

Donate in Memory

Make a donation in memory of your loved one.

Share this page

Invite other friends and family to visit the page.

Bill Trench

August 9, 2022

Marion Mayo was one of the great saints of the church. It was an honor to work with her at Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity for more than a decade. She and her husband Bob were instrumental in founding the Hartford chapter and she provided great leadership across the years.

I don't know what her favorite Bible verse was but I know that she lived out the great commandment to love God and neighbor. She was active for many years in the leadership of the West Granby United Methodist Church and in the mold of John Wesley she epitomized his challenge to:
"Do all the good you can,
by all the means you can,
in all the ways you can,
in all the places you can,
at all the times you can,
to all the people you can,
as long as ever you can."

One of her great gifts was in recruiting families and then partnering with them as they worked through the process of home ownership. It was a daunting task to break through the cultural barriers separating a mostly non-white clientele from mostly white suburban church folks. But Marion did it with grace and humility.

My favorite Marion story is her description of a meeting she had in a housing project with potential home owners. As the meeting began there were awkward glances at the only white woman anywhere near that location. But everyone relaxed when the hostess introduced her by saying, "Don't worry. She's just like us, only she's white."

Rest in power, my friend.