Promoted to Glory: Major Mary Jansson

Major Mary Jansson was Promoted to Glory on July 21, 2025, from the Drake Assisted Living facility in Concord, NC. She was 89. 

Mary Elizabeth Coble was born on August 21, 1935, in North Carolina to parents Joseph and Georgia Coble. From the Prince Georges Corps in Maryland, she and her husband, William Jansson, entered the Evangeline Booth College in 1965 as members of the Witnesses to the Faith session of cadets. They were commissioned and ordained with the rank of lieutenant on June 3, 1967. 

Majors William and Mary served as Salvation Army officers for 33 years. Corps appointments included Wheeling, WV; Baltimore Temple, MD; Winchester, VA; Pensacola, FL; and Winston-Salem Citadel, NC. Other appointments included overseeing Boys & Girls Clubs and Community Centers at Durham, NC; Atlanta, GA; and Tulsa, OK. 

They served as area commanders in Waco, TX; Fort Worth, TX; Winston-Salem, NC; and Memphis, TN. Divisional staff appointments were to Arkansas-Oklahoma, Maryland-West Virginia, and Kentucky-Tennessee. After full careers of service, the Majors Jansson retired in February of 2000. 

Major Mary Jansson is preceded in death by her loving husband of 67 years, Major William Jansson; and siblings, James Coble, John Coble, Paul Coble, Daisy Eudy, Annie McBride, and Joseph Coble. 

She is survived by her sister, Alice Voorheis, and numerous nephews and nieces. 

A Celebration of Life service was held on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at the Hartsell Funeral Home of Concord, with burial at the Carolina Memorial Park in Kannapolis, NC.