- Date Of Birth: September 11, 1947
- Date Of Death: October 7, 2021
- State: Indiana
On eagles’ wings, local artist and educator, Mary Jane Cecilia Gregan, was lifted from Mulberry, Indiana to conduct the Heavenly choirs on Thursday, October 7, 2021.
Seventy-four years earlier, in the small Pennsylvania town of Edinboro, Mary Jane became a first-generation American-born descendant of Slovakian immigrant parents, Peter George Gregan and Margaret Catherine Baynok Gregan; and sister to Peter Robert Gregan and Margaret “Margie” Elaine Gregan. All have preceded her in death. Beloved daughter Rachel Anne Dolphin passed away on August 22, 2021.
Education was always revered in the Gregan household, serving as a seed that would later grow to become Mary Jane’s vocation and avocation. As early as high school, the seed was flourishing, with Mary Jane serving as president of the General McLane High School chapter of Future Teachers of America. It was in the high school years, that Mary Jane also began distinguishing herself as an exceptional musician, performing in the Junior Philharmonic and All-State orchestras as well as a member of the local college band. Mary Jane graduated from Edinboro University with double majors in clarinet and voice and later completed graduate voice studies at Temple University.
One name was never enough to describe the sheer amount of love, passion, and compassion that was embodied in this diminutive woman! Not a Mary alone, nor even a Maryjane would do; she needed double-dubbing to equal the energy that began inside of her and soon enveloped anyone who encountered her.
One role that Mary Jane cherished was that of mother, so important to her that she listed, as a resume’ line item, the nine years she invested in being a full-time mother. Besides being a proud and supportive mother of Matthew, Paul, and Rachel, Mary Jane was a mother figure and later, grandmother figure, to thousands of Tippecanoe County children who skipped to the music room with excitement because Ms. Gregan was found there. “She had heart of gold,” reminisces one of her former students.
Mary Jane’s musical journey included people of all ages, all faiths, and all abilities as she served many Tippecanoe County churches as choral director, and as an exemplary teacher in each of Tippecanoe County’s school districts; and even traveled across the world to Ghana as a recipient of a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship. After retiring from full-time teaching, Mary Jane still adopted classes who needed a long-term substitute teacher or some extra attention to build their academic skills through the magic of music.
A 1996 Golden Apple Award recipient, Mary Jane had a magical way of illuminating both the exultation earned and the exertion invested in performing music. In directing students aged from elementary to high school, Mary Jane’s energy percolated joy across all genres of vocal and instrumental music. A successful performance was the reward of focused effort. “Ms. Gregan had high standards, from which her students benefited. She prepared students for life by insisting on hard work and extensive preparation,” observes a former high school student.
The talented teacher was also an artist of achievement. Mary Jane did not have one opus; she produced several. She invested a Public Schools Foundation grant to transport audiences back four centuries to visit a vivid marketplace and to dine at a delicious
Mary Jane’s heart and home were open to all, and she steadfastly supported those causes that helped others. Mary Jane’s myriad acts personified a favorite song, Bridge over Troubled Water. Feeding people’s souls was one of these. On her own, she was known to cook for hundreds out of her family kitchen, or to deliver soup to a lone individual who was ill. Mary Jane inspired her high school students to donate over 1,000 items to a local food bank, and she founded a 100-member middle school group who blended service and song as its weekly mission. Mary Jane also organized coat drives, held benefits for the homeless, and encouraged her students to donate hundreds of books for children who needed them. She opened her own home to a high school student who was without one and even helped write a grant to fund a weights room in her school building. The Indiana Teachers Association recognized Mary Jane’s many acts of service, and she was also named a 1998 Woman of Distinction in Tippecanoe County.
Any casual observer could note that Mary Jane’s strength and talent made her capable of achieving success in every endeavor. Yet in an enduring battle with Covid-19, Mary Jane could only reach a draw. Covid robbed her of her independence and mobility. However, Mary Jane’s unwavering will won more time to savor; another Christmas and crystalline winter that melted into the pure warmth of spring, the sizzling spectacles of summer, and a final September 11th birthday celebrated with “Rachel’s Angels.” Within a few precious days from that celebration, Mary Jane ascended to the only destination truly worthy of her: an angel on Earth, now immortalized in Heaven.
Mary Jane’s sons, Matt Dolphin (wife Renee) of Oregon, and Paul Dolphin, Republic of the Philippines, as well as her loving and faithful cousins, Anna Timperman (husband Eugene) of Cincinnati, and Paul Timperman (wife Jane) of Lafayette, survive her, along with former husband, Jud Dolphin of Maine. Mary Jane’s joyous spirit will also be deeply missed by thousands of former students, colleagues, and friends who cherished her as much as she did each one of them.
No one who met Mary Jane could ever have forgotten the experience! Looking into those deep brown pools of love and having one’s hand grasped in the warmest embrace kindled many a long friendship and lifetime of admiration. She transformed relationships and classrooms into the intimate smallness of a tiny Edinboro where each person could grow and be nurtured. Mary Jane didn’t just teach music; she was music: a crescendo rising from her hearty laugh and energetically capitulating to the most thrilling and highest of octaves. As a former student noted, “Her voice symbolized her personality because it was strong and beautiful, just like her.”
Those wishing to perpetuate Mary Jane’s impact on her community may make contributions toward
