Mary Jane (Mare) Palermo Wallace died May 5, 2024. Born Mary Jane Palermo April 6, 1931 in Springfield, MA. She attended Classical High School and then attended and graduated with a degree in English from Goucher College in Baltimore MD. She then married Irving Quimby June 25,1952. They had three children: Jane Palermo Quimby, John Irving Quimby, and Martha Quimby Keenan.

For the rest of her life, she pursued her passion for other languages, studying French, German, Spanish and Chinese. Mare was a lifelong learner, and always kept an open mind and heart.

Mare was active in the Springfield Junior League, and a supporter and Board Member of the Stage West Theater, and the Zone Art Center in Springfield.
She married her second husband Lawrence Robbins Wallace in 1990, and they moved to Portland, Maine where she continued her involvement with progressive politics and advocating for social justice.
They co-founded The Equity Institute of Maine, a non-profit diversity training organization, which in 1998 received an Effie Pentlarge award from the Maine Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance.

Throughout her life, Mare enjoyed extensive world travel, including to most of Europe, Japan, China, and Australia.
She moved in 2012 to The Upper CT River Valley to be close to her three children, and her two grandsons.

Mare was predeceased by her two husbands.

She is survived by her three children: Jane Quimby, John Quimby (Michael O'Donnell), Martha Quimby Keenan (Joseph), and her two grandchildren: Patrick and Matthew; and her four step-children: Joann Thompson (Carol Tipton), Trudi Olivetti (Jim), Lawrence Robbins Wallace Jr. (Lynne), Stephen Wallace.

Mare's family is very appreciative of the attentive care given by the staff at Genesis Center in Lebanon NH and Wheelock Terrace in Hanover during Mare's stays at each home.

There will be no service.

If you would like to make a donation in Mare's memory, it can be sent to The Upper Valley Haven, 713 Hartford Ave., White River Jct., VT 05001.