LACONIA---Mary [Jewett] Orton, 89, passed away peacefully on December 9, 2020, surrounded by her loving family. Mary was born on September 4, 1931, in Tilton, NH and had been a resident of Laconia for more than 70 years and just recently moved to Gilford to live with her daughter Samantha and son-in-law Brian.
Mary attended Mount St. Mary’s College and the University of New Hampshire and was a flight attendant with Capitol Airlines for many years. Mary was a lifelong active member of her community having volunteered her time and energy to organizations that were near and dear to her heart. She was a director for the Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation where scholarships in the name of her daughter Ann Jewett Steele and her son Stephen S. Jewett, III were especially important to her. Mary was an active director with the New Hampshire Music Festival, and a board member of Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH, The Laconia Historical Museum Society, the Laconia Library, VNA & Hospice, The Union Cemetery, and the Lakes Region General Hospital Auxiliary. Mary also was an ardent supporter of the local chapter of the American Red Cross, local Make-a-Wish Foundation, United Way, the Boys and Girls Club of the Lakes Region, Got Lunch! Laconia, St. Vincent DePaul, and most importantly, Central NH VNA & Hospice. In keeping with her loving and generous spirit, and in memory of her beloved grandson Stephen, Mary, while not able to give the gift of life to others through organ or tissue donation, encouraged and educated everyone around her of its vital need and importance. Mary also firmly believed that we need to do a better job of diagnosing, treating, and understanding anxiety and depression which often-times goes unnoticed and leads to suicide. Her hope is that the stigma of this illness is erased once and for all.
Mary was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend who loved her family and friends unconditionally. She traveled the globe but was just as happy and content in her garden tending to her flowers or in her kitchen cooking one of her specialty meals. Mary’s positive outlook on life, her kind words and gentle selfless nature had an impact on all those she touched. When Mary walked into a room, everyone smiled. Mary was a remarkable woman, and she truly will be missed by too many to count.
Mary was the daughter of the late John F. Fitzgerald and Clarice Rowe Fitzgerald and was predeceased by her late husbands, Attorney Stephen S. Jewett II and Russell C. Orton, her daughter Ann Jewett-Steele, her son Stephen S. Jewett III, and her adored grandson, Stephen S. Jewett, IV. She is survived by her daughters, Retired United States Navy Captain Ellen M. Jewett of Playa Potrero, Costa Rica, Attorney Samantha M. Jewett and her husband Dr. Brian A. Connelly of Gilford, NH, and her stepchildren, Leslie Orton of Williamstown, MA, and her children Christopher, Haley, and Ryan, Piper S. Orton of Newton, MA, Janet Chase Orton of Brighton, MA, Clark E. Orton of Belmont, NH and her granddaughter, Abby E. Jewett of Belmont, NH and granddaughter-in-law Meadow Jewett of St. Paul, MN. We would be remiss if we did not also mention the extraordinary tender love and care given to Mary by Central NH VNA and Hospice and especially by Moira W. Connelly and Suzanne Cronin.
Walk-through Calling Hours will be held on Thursday, September 2, 2021, from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. in the Carriage House, at the Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH, 03246.
A private family Graveside Service will be held at the family burial site at Union Cemetery at a later date.
Charitable donations may be made in memory of either the Ann Jewett-Steele or Stephen S. Jewett, III scholarship in care of the Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation, 14 Country Club Road, Gilford, NH, 03249 or the Laconia Historical Museum Society, 695 Main Street, Laconia, NH 03246.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services and 603Cremations.com, Laconia, NH, 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.