- Date Of Birth: April 6, 1955
- Date Of Death: January 18, 2018
- State: Idaho
Mary-jane (MJ) Howard DeForest entered into rest on Thursday, January 18th, 2018 at 62 years of age. Her memory is carried on by her husband, five children, eight grandchildren, (only) two cats and an extended family of friends from every walk of life.
MJ was born to William and MaryJean Howard in Lafayette, Indiana and had two siblings, Jann and Bill. She came of age in the late sixties, early seventies in Mountain Home, Idaho with a moniker that fit her free-thinking and culture challenging nature. After high school, she entered the United States Air Force, serving as a corpsman for four years with a year overseas in Korea. She returned to the States, married and had three children: William, Maryann and Katy, all while earning her Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!).
MJ was passionate about teaching and positively influencing the lives of her students. Her teaching career spanned too decades three states and touched the lives of 100s of students. She taught middle school english, geography, and maid her own curriculum for a history of rock n’ roll class, ensuring the next generation wood appreciate the classics as much as she did. MJ was known for creative classroom antics and bestowing nick-names for almost everyone. Dare to insult another student in her class? Be prepared to stand up in class and belt out R-E-S-P-E-C-T like Aretha or come up with two meaningful “put-ups” instead of put-downs. MJ was a “Band Mom” to not only her own children, but everyone else in the fruitland High School band. She chaperoned trips, cheered along side the pep band with her cow bell in hand, and made lifelong friends with follow band parents. (By the way, if you’ve noticed the 9 grammatical errors in this paragraph, you would probably pass her class.)
In 1997, MJ was diagnosed with a rare form of familial Amyloidosis that would reshape her life for years to come. She survived multiple organ transplants and several surgeries. She became an expert in Amyloidosis and was an active advocate in her health care. MJ was resilient through it all.
In 2005, she met and married her husband Don DeForest, gaining two adult children Michael and Stephanie. In her retired years MJ and Don enjoyed travel, camping, and going to sporting events.
MJ is survived by sister, Jann (David) Langley-Lower; her husband, Don DeForest; and children, William McDonald, Maryann (Nathan) Dunbar, Katy Ferguson, Michael DeForest and Stephanie (Joe) Flora. She is predeceased by her parents, William and MaryJean Howard; and her brother, Bill Howard.
