Mary Jean Haug

NORTHAMPTON, MA — Mary Jean Haug (née Brown), known to friends and family as Jean, died on August 31, 2025, at Cooley Dickinson Hospital after a brief illness. She had just turned 93.

Jean was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1932. She spent most of her childhood in the Bay Ridge neighborhood, with a short stay in Coney Island. Her parents were George Brown (1911–1980) and Margaret Brown (née Pabst; 1912–1975). Jean was the second of 11 children and the oldest girl. She was very close with her brothers and sis­ters and helped her mother care for her younger siblings. She was known for her warm and loving nature all through her life.

Jean graduated from Bay Ridge High School for Girls in Brooklyn and worked a variety of jobs, including switchboard operator for the phone compa­ny. In 1952, she married Chris­tian Olav Haug. They settled in Brooklyn, near where they grew up, and had two children, James and Jean Marie. In 1957, Jean and Chris moved their family to Huntington, New York, on Long Island.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Jean helped care for her granddaugh­ters who were living just a few towns away. In 1998, she and Chris moved to Florence, Mas­sachusetts, to be nearer their young grandsons in Northamp­ton. Jean made many new friends and was a regular in exercise classes and book clubs at the Northampton Senior Cen­ter. Throughout their marriage, Jean cared devotedly for Chris, who had been injured as an in­fantryman in Korea.

She had a few jobs she re­membered fondly, working as a nanny for a family in Cold Spring Harbor, as an adminis­trative assistant at Christ Lu­theran Church in East North­port, and as an administrator at the auxiliary bank office at SUNY Farmingdale, all on Long Island. She loved travel, too, especially trips to Israel with her church group and to London with Chris.

Jean had a great zest for life. She always looked sharp and had an enviable collection of jewelry. She enjoyed the New York Ballet; the opera, especial­ly live at the Metro­politan Opera House; museums, especially The Eric Carle Muse­um; reading myster­ies; PBS; her gourmet club; any social event that involved fam­ily; and a good vodka tonic.

Always a natural with kids, Jean was greatly be­loved by her grandchildren. In addition to her children James Haug (Alexandra Kennedy) and Jean Marie York (Dan York), she is survived by her grand­children Megan Rae York (Josh Albon), Katie York, John Haug, and Nikalsen Haug, as well as her great-grandchildren Quinn and Shane Albon-York. She also leaves her older brother George Brown (and his wife Greta) and her sisters Katherine Meyer (and husband Francis), Frances Pedersen (and husband Robert), and Susan Bei (and husband Robert), as well as many nieces and nephews.

Jean and Chris were mar­ried for 64 years until his death in 2016. She was also prede­ceased by her brothers Walter and Richard Brown and her sisters Ruth Ferares, Elizabeth Schleenbecker, and Margaret Cosgrove. Her younger sister Joan Domenech died a week before her.

Jean’s family is deeply grate­ful to her caretakers, especially nurses Amy Gleason and Lisa Doney, who provided her with loving care so she could remain at home as long as possible. In November, Jean moved to the Lathrop Home in Northamp­ton, where the staff and her dear friend Lorraine Zalesky made her feel so welcome. She made many new friends there.

She will be interred with her husband Chris in the Mas­sachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam. She re­quested no funeral services. If you would like to honor Jean’s memory with a charitable do­nation, please consider Lath­rop Home on South Street in Northampton.