Mary Jane Lena West Kunza, age 80 of Blaine, passed away on Friday, January 24, 2025. A graveside service and celebration of life will be held at a later date. Please email Jonelle.clark@me.com if you would like to be notified of this gathering.
Mary Jane was born on October 2, 1944 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Russell August West and Lena Binger West. She graduated from Cambridge High School in 1962. She spent her childhood living and traveling between Phoenix, Arizona and Isanti, Minnesota.
Mary Jane worked at State Farm Insurance before moving on to become the personal assistant to Bob Short, owner of the Minneapolis Lakers, up until he moved the team to Los Angeles. She Co-Owned Norm’s Community Service (in Cambridge) and took great pride in running the business. She enjoyed doing clerical work and later spent time working at Crosstown Dental and The National Sports Center after moving to Blaine, MN.
Mary Jane was fearless and had MacGyver-like skills to solve problems. She loved to listen and share advice. She truly played it forward when possible to support young people who were following their dreams. She was a loving & supportive mother, always willing to lend a helping hand. She had an infectious laugh and wonderful smile and liked to debate current events. It got her fired up. Her favorite song and personal anthem was, “it’s my life”, by the band Bon Jovi. She was delighted to be able to see them in concert. Mary Jane had many hobbies she enjoyed. She would spend time doing paper crafts, making homemade holiday and greeting cards with her daughter, friends, and family. She was fond of sewing and knitting, making personalized pieces.
Mary Jane adored spending time with family and friends. She would host dinner parties on Friday nights to watch her favorite 80’s classics, Dallas and Falcon Crest, with her very dear friends, the Lindell’s (Kay & Loren). She even drove to Dallas and bought Jonelle the “I Shot JR” jeans. She enthusiastically prepared meals for loved ones. She looked forward to every opportunity to cook, bake and read cookbooks to learn and try new recipe’s. She served hearty and tasty meals and loved to organize parties and pot lucks.
She enjoyed traveling, seeing new places and visiting family. Some of her favorite places where she spent time were Karlstad, Sweden; Paris, France; Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; Nassau, Bahamas; Florida and Caribbean cruises.
Over her later years she lived vicariously through others and loved hearing about her children’s daily activities and seeing photos of their travels and adventures. She loved sunsets and gazing at the moon and stars.
All she wanted was MORE time with the people she loved.
We love you “to Paris and back”
She is preceded in death by her parents, Russell August West and Lena Binger West Jonas and her brother Norman West.
She is survived by her children, Jonelle (David) Clark and Kory (Lisa) Kunza and grandson, Seth Kunza; her sister, Linda (David) Foty; nephew, Josh (Deb) Cushman; niece, Kerry (Angelo) Cushman; nephew, Matthew West and niece, Okho Bohm Hagedorn.
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