Mary Welty Jennings

Mary Welty Jennings, 83

After a long illness, Mary Welty Jennings, 83, died peacefully in Missoula, Montana on October 7, 2023.

Mary was born on November 5, 1939 in Richmond, Virginia to Harold Howard Welty and Katheryn Waters Welty.  As a young child, she moved with her family from Virginia to Morristown, New Jersey and then to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she attended Shortridge High School.  Mary excelled in mathematics in both high school and in college at Ohio Wesleyan University.

After college, Mary worked with a team at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, conducting research for the first unmanned space exploration flights.  Her subsequent 25 year career with IBM began in Virginia and eventually took her to New York City and a home in Greenwich, Connecticut where she spent many years. She served as Verger at her beloved Christ Church Greenwich.  She volunteered with the Big Sisters program and housing programs supported by her church.  Following retirement from IBM, she worked with a tax accountant, finding another field in which she could make use of her remarkable math skills. 

In 2016, Mary reluctantly left Greenwich, moving to Missoula, Montana in order to be closer to family members.  She immersed herself in Missoula life, continuing to assist taxpayers through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program as she had done in Greenwich.  She enrolled in MOLLI courses at the University of Montana and served on the Vestry at Holy Spirit Church where she studied a revised version of a 3 year program of Bible and church history (Education for Ministry), a course she had previously taken in Connecticut. 

Mary’s story would not be complete without a mention of her global travels.  Mary visited China, Thailand, Australia, Egypt, Austria, Spain, Portugal, France, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Bermuda, Quebec, the Panama Canal, Hong Kong, and Macau; she went on a Baltic cruise with a visit to St. Petersburg, Russia and journeyed to Tanzania for an African Safari.

We are thankful for the kind and loving care Mary received from the caregiving staff at The Springs in Missoula and from the Partners in Home Care Hospice team.

Mary was preceded in death by her mother Katheryn Welty and her father Harold Welty.  She is survived by her sister Jeanne Southwood, brother-in-law Jerry Southwood, nephew Walter Southwood (Sara), niece Mary Surber (Will), great niece Ailee Southwood, great nephews Clayton and Jackson Surber, great, great nephew Gabriel Southwood, many dear friends, and her beloved cat Ella.

Memorial services for Mary will be held at a later date. Donations in Mary’s memory may be made either to Holy Spirit Church, 130 6^th St. E, Missoula, MT 59801 or Christ Church Greenwich, 254 E Putnam Ave, Greenwich, CT 06830.