Mary Jane (Wilkins) Dove

Mary Jane Dove passed away on December 1, 2023, after a lengthy illness.  Mary Jane was born in Little Rock, May 22, 1956.  She attended Bryant Public Schools.  Mary Jane graduated from Henderson State University majoring in music and worked many years as a band director in Camden, Bauxite, Bryant and Little Rock, Arkansas.  As a band director she touched on the lives of many students encouraging them in their musical activities, making band fun and building lifelong relationships.  For a while, she sang in the choir at Salem United Methodist Church.  Mary Jane went on to pursue a Masters Degree becoming a school principal, then a Doctorate in Education eventually becoming the Director at the Saline County Career Center for Vocational Education.  After her retirement from education, she and her husband enjoyed traveling and as often as possible fulfilled her newfound passion for scuba diving on trips to Cozumel, Mexico.

Mary Jane is preceded in death by her parents, Melvin and Janie Wilkins, her grandparents and a nephew.  She is survived by her husband of 32 years, Don Dove, her sister and brother-in-law, Maggie and Jim Taylor and her nieces, Claire Taylor (Mark Phillips) and her great-niece Olive, of Vermont and Paige Taylor (Tony) of Texas and two aunts.  She leaves behind many special lifelong friends who will truly miss her.

A celebration of her life will be planned later.  An attempt will be made to contact all those wanting to attend this celebration.

The family would like to thank the staff at Saline Memorial Hospice for their kindness and care during this time.

Arrangements by Arkansas Cremation, 10515 W Markham St, Ste B1, Little Rock, AR 72205.