Mary Jean [Ross] Proulx died at Baystate Medical Center on October 25, 2020 at the age of 86. She was born on January 29, 1934 in Lyons, Illinois to Theodore Ross and Mary [Gartner] Ross. She attended local schools and graduated High School in 1950 and

then went to Morton Junior College from 1950-1952. Mary Jean earned a B.S. Degree in Medical Technology from Western Michigan University in 1954 which included an internship at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She then moved back to Illinois where she spent the next ten years at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois, the last 5 years as lab supervisor. At this time she began to consider either grad school or medical school. She was lucky enough to be accepted into the M.S. Program in Biochemistry at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia,. She spent 2 years there earning her M.S. degree in 1966 and then next spent a year at Highland Park Hospital in Illinois. In 1967 she applied for the position of Director of the Medical Technology Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for which she was accepted, moving into an apartment complex near the campus. It was here where she befriended her neighbor, Don Proulx who also was a faculty member and fellow Midwesterner. They became engaged in January of 1968 and were married the next July. When their first son (Donald Jr.,) was born in 1969 and their second (Bill) in 1971, she elected to be a “stay-at-home” mom. She returned to the job market when the boys were in their teens and worked in the lab at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital for about 10 years, retiring in 1996.

Before her marriage Mary Jean traveled to Europe and the Caribbean. While married, she and Don traveled throughout the U.S. as well as trips to Europe, Peru, Mexico and Japan. They had a rich and fulfilling life, remaining in their house in Amherst after retirement and enjoying the local wildlife that shared their yard

Mary Jean is survived by Donald, her loving husband of 52 years, her sons Donald Jr. of Beverly, MA and William of Amherst, MA., her brother Theodore Ross and wife Patricia of Neenah, WI, and numerous nephews, nieces and cousins.

There will be no calling hours. Burial will be in Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst. In lieu of flowers, please send any contributions to a charity of your choice.