Longtime Jamaica Plain resident Marie Ann Turley passed away after a battle with cancer on August 26, 2025 at Spaulding Nursing and Therapy Center, Brighton, Massachusetts, with family by her side. She was born to Thomas F. Turley and Marie A. Turley (neé Coghlan) in Brooklyn, New York on April 10, 1949 while her father was attending law school. She grew up in Upstate New York in the village of Niverville and graduated in 1967 from Ichabod Crane Central School in Valatie, New York. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, New York, her mother’s alma mater, in 1971. Marie’s first job out of college was teaching at the Ursuline Order’s Elementary School, St. Angela Merici, in the South Bronx, until moving to Boston in 1976. She then went on to earn a Masters of Counseling Psychology from Antioch New England in Keene, New Hampshire.

Upon graduating, Marie worked as a clinician at the Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center before beginning her career in government. She worked for two successive Boston mayors over a period of 30 years, beginning with Mayor Ray Flynn in 1984 and then with Mayor Thomas Menino until 2014. During her long tenure in the Office of the Mayor, Marie served as Executive Director of the Boston Women's Commission, and in that role she spearheaded many important programs, her signature achievement being the Boston Women's Memorial - the statues which stand on Commonwealth Avenue as a testament to three leading women who helped shape the city of Boston. In 2014 she took on the role of Senior Policy Analyst for Women and Senior Programs at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department until retiring in 2024.

Marie was a dedicated leader of many Jamaica Plain community endeavors as well as an active participant in the greater Boston political scene. She worked on numerous Democratic National Conventions and served as a Democratic State Committee Woman. For over forty years she served on the Ward 11 Democratic Committee, working to broaden its base and include often unheard voices.

Among the numerous groups, coalitions, and organizations to which she dedicated her time and efforts are the Stone House, the Boston Women's Heritage Trail, Rosie’s Place, the Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council, Teen Voices/Women Express, The Girls' Coalition of Greater Boston Leadership Council, the National Association of Commissions for Women, the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association, the Union Avenue Neighborhood Association, and the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council Zoning Committee. Additionally, she walked the AIDS Walk Boston (now Strides for Action) every year since 1986 in honor of Bob Johns (10/1/1953 - 9/30/1985).

Marie was a long-time parishioner at St. Mary of the Angels in Roxbury. She served on the Parish Council and chaired the Social Justice Cluster Ministry for many years. She helped coordinate the yearly Good Friday Neighborhood Way of the Cross walk throughout Egleston Square, which connected her deep rooted faith with the struggles of the neighborhood.

In her life of advocacy she was recognized with many awards and tributes, including the Most Enduring Jamaica Plain Council Board Member, the Casa Myrna – Myrna Vasquez Advocacy Award, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Leading Women Award, the Web of Benefit Woman of the Web Award, and the Abigail Adams Award from the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus.

While politics and community work were abiding passions for Marie, she also made time for other things she loved. She could be found at Symphony Hall for the BSO and her beloved Handel and Haydn, at the Gardner, MFA or ICA, or checking out JP’s Open Studios (where she’d been involved from its inception). On holidays and vacations she would spend time back in Columbia County and the Berkshires, attending BSO and special artists concerts at Tanglewood, enjoying meals at the Red Lion Inn - and the scene on the porch - and take the ferry to PTown to see Tim and John or join her sister & BIL in Truro, or visit other friends who loved the Cape as much as she did. For years she biked, hit the beaches and laughed with the Malones and Kevin Coffey on Nantucket. Working at a national Democratic convention meant at least a quick foray into the local culture in those other parts of her beloved USA. Not to say she didn’t adore Paris and its environs on her trips there with Joyce, Billy and Elissa and that special circle of loving friends!

Marie was predeceased by her parents and is survived by her sister Kathleen and her husband David Johns and her brothers Thomas and his son Ian, Sean and his wife Karen Fagan and their daughters Melissa Toufanian (Yasha) and Chelsea, and Patrick and his wife Elizabeth and their sons Patrick and Lewis and daughter Alice. She is also survived by her grandnieces Leyla and Nora Toufanian.

For those who knew Marie well, of course, it was her time waitressing at Doyle’s, meeting friends for coffee at Evergreen, seeing familiar faces walking down Centre Street, welcoming new neighbors to Union Avenue, and watching their children grow, that made Boston, and specifically JP, more than home.

Visitation will be from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM, prior to the Mass of Christian Burial, which will be celebrated on Saturday, October 11, 2025 at Saint Mary’s of the Angels in Roxbury at 10:30AM. A Celebration of Life will follow at noon at The Inn at Longwood Medical Center, 342 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA.

Additionally, a memorial gathering will be held at Evergreen Cafe and Eatery, 154 Green Street, Jamaica Plain, on Sunday, October 12, 2025 from 4:00pm-6:00pm. Arrangements have been entrusted to Davis Funeral Home (https://www.davisofboston.com/)

If you would like to honor Marie, please consider a donation to the College of New Rochelle Serviam Scholarship (https://alumni.mercy.edu/Serv…) St. Mary of the Angels Parish (https://www.catholicjproxbury…) Casa Myrna (https://casamyrna.org/) the Stone House (https://www.stonehouseinc.org) Pine Street Inn (https://www.pinestreetinn.org) Rosie’s Place (https://www.rosiesplace.org) or any other of the numerous causes she supported. 

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