Mary Jane (Boynton) Plummer

Mary Jane Plummer

June 16, 1939 – November 3, 2018

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Mary J. Plummer, 79, of North Bend, will be held on Friday, December 7th at 1:00 p.m. at the Unity by the Bay Church, 2100 Union Avenue in North Bend, with Reverend Karen Lowe presiding. A private family urnside service will take place at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in Coos Bay.

Mary was born in Culver City, California on June 16, 1939, the first of six children to Angus A. Boynton and Margaret L. ( Slocum ) Boynton. She passed away in the early morning hours on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Bay Area Hospital in Coos Bay.

Mary graduated from high school, turned 18 and married Alfred Plummer, all in the same week in 1957. She was divorced and the single mother of three children by 1966, working as a full-time waitress and going to college part time in the Nursing program, from which she graduated as an R.N. in 1970. As much as she enjoyed patient care, Mary had a real passion for teaching and naturally moved into the Staff Development position, concentrating on improving employee certification and state licensing compliance to improve patient care.

Mary was a co-founder of the first Rape Crisis Clinic in Orange County, CA in 1977. The mission of the Rape Crisis Clinic was to help support victims of rape ( rape by both strangers and family members ) by educating the victims as well as the community about this issue. In addition, she became certified as a “Hotline Trainer” and set up the first county-wide HOTLINE, training volunteers to handle NOT “blaming the victim” while listening to the horrifying details.

Mary encouraged her children to pursue higher education while at the same time obtaining her B.A in Social Ecology with an emphasis on Humanism from the University of California at Irvine in 1980. She started her R.N. Consulting business in 1982. She was a highly sought after “trainer of the trainers” with California State Approval, one of the few individuals who achieved California State Approval.

In 2002, Mary moved to North Bend with her daughter. Her experience in training RNs and Certified Nurse Assistants ( CNA ) led to her joining a local group working to create vocational training including CNA classes at Southwestern Oregon Community College in 2003. As time went on, her focus shifted to cost-free options for CNA program at LifeCare Center of Coos Bay in 2006 and at Baycrest Village of North Bend in 2011. Mary retired at the age of 73 in 2014.

Mary is survived by her daughter, Denise Plummer of North Bend; son, Alfred Plummer and his wife Ruth of Upland, CA; daughter-in-law, Tracy Plummer of Phoenix, AZ; sisters, Patricia Lake of North Bend and Peggy and her husband Santos of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA; brother, Robert Boynton and his wife Shirley of Scottsdale, AZ; six grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Mary was preceded in death by her ex-husband, Alfred Plummer; sons, Christopher and Michael Plummer and a great grandson, Matthew Estrela.

Friends and family are encouraged to sign the online guestbook at www.coosbayareafunerals.com and www.theworldlink.com. Arrangements are under the care of North Bend Chapel, 541-756-0440.

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