Mary Kristine Jerome, age 74, resident of Oak Harbor for the past 42 years, peacefully passed away at the family home on May 1 after a short illness related to blood cancer, with the immediate family in attendance.

Mary Jerome was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Dec. 6, 1943 to Garnet I (Roos) Johnson and Gunnard J. Johnson. She was raised in Rockford, Illinois and graduated from Rockford West High School in 1961. Mary attended Rockford Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, graduating as an RN in 1964. She met her future husband, Douglas J. Jerome, on a blind date in January 1965 and they saw the movie, “Mary Poppins,” a favorite. Doug, who was a young sailor in the Navy at the time, always teased her that she did not realize what she was getting into. They were married on July 16, 1966 in Rockford at St. Marks Lutheran Church.

Mary is survived by spouse Douglas Jerome, children Pamela L. Jerome, Kyle D. Jerome, spouse Breeonna Delaire, grandchildren Ella, Grayson and Kate, and Susan K. Barnum, spouse Mark Barnum and their son Max.

Mary worked as a nurse at several hospitals in Camden, New Jersey, and Salt Lake City, Utah. After raising their three children, she resumed her medical career as a receptionist for Dr. Jane Mayes’ Pediatric Associates in Oak Harbor until retiring in 2012. She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother Robert Johnson and sister Barbara Horowitz. The family would like to thank the nurses and doctors of Island Hospital and the Merle Cancer Care Center for their loving care, and especially the wonderful Whidbey Health Hospice care organization. Memorials may be made to the Island Hospital Merle Cancer Care Center, Anacortes and WhidbeyHealth Hospice Care in Coupeville. She will be missed by her family and will watch over her grandchildren grow up.