After a nine year battle with Renal Cell Carcinoma, Mary Ann DeSantis lost the fight on Monday, May 27, 2024.
Mary Ann was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to Bill and Jean Wash on October 24, 1953. She grew up in nearby Laurel, where she graduated from R.H. Watkins High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in communications, majoring in journalism and marketing, from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Following graduation, she worked as a reporter and photographer for the Hattiesburg American, a daily newspaper where her father had worked when she was born. She later pursued a career in public relations, including academic PR for Florida State University and later for the University of Florida, where she was the editor of UF Today.
In 1987, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to pursue a corporate communications career. She was a program director for the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and later a speechwriter for United Parcel Service.
While in Atlanta, she met the love of her life, Tony DeSantis. They moved to The Villages in May, 2000, because of their love of golf. After moving to Florida, Mary Ann continued working as a freelance writer and independent contractor for several publications and the Central Florida Health Alliance. She was the author of “Salute”, a wine column that ran for almost 10 years in Lake and Sumter Style Magazine. She also served as the managing editor for DeSoto Magazine, a regional lifestyle magazine, from 2017 until 2021.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Mary Ann stayed positive because of her strong faith in God and her love of people. She was a member of St. George Episcopal Church, where she served on the communications team and played in the handbell choir. She was also a member of the Colored Pencil Painters Guild and The Villages Photography Club. She particularly enjoyed playing golf with her St. George friends, whom she fondly dubbed her “church ladies”.
She is survived by her husband Tony; her sister Nora Lynn (Mike) Davis; her aunt, Snookie Knight and several cousins.
