Mary Ann Pezzullo

Mary Ann Pezzullo (née O’Donnell), 86, of Melbourne, FL passed away peacefully on June 13, 2024, at Autumn House in Melbourne. Born on December 15, 1937, to George W. and Angela (Crescio) O’Donnell, she grew up in Boston, MA. She was predeceased by her husband of 43 years, Joseph Pezzullo, her sister Elaine Hughes, and niece Colette Price. She is survived by nieces and nephews: Sharon Williams (David) of Salem, MA; James Hughes (Lucinda) of Summerville, SC; Judith Ferraro of Orange, CT; godson Michael Williams and great nieces and nephew Kristen Birth, Angela Clements, and Rich Hughes.

As a girl, Mary Ann and her father had season tickets to the Boston Red Sox. Mary Ann would score the game and calculate statistics. After graduating from Emmanuel College in 1958, Mary Ann spent seven years as a Sister of Notre Dame in Ipswich, MA. She received an MA in economics from Boston College. Mary Ann spent a few years transitioning out of pursuit of a doctoral in economics and into married life with the love of her life, Joe. In 1972, she entered the banking industry, becoming the first woman senior VP in a regional New Jersey bank holding company. She headed up marketing there and in a Philadelphia bank holding company until 1989. In the 1980s Mary Ann wrote a textbook for the American Bankers Association, Marketing for Bankers. She retired from paid work when her husband Joe retired from running an alternative education program for youth at risk in Willingboro, NJ in 1992.

Mary Ann and Joe enjoyed travel, whether it was trips to Europe, the Holy Land, to Boston to visit family, to their homes in the Poconos, or the Outer Banks, NC. In retirement she and Joe went twice to Haiti to visit missions. Mary Ann said she grew to love the South and southerners, and ultimately settled in the Space Coast of Florida in Melbourne. After Joe passed in 2013, Mary Ann made holiday trips to Salem, MA to stay with her niece’s family and her sister Elaine.

Her primary goal in retirement years was based on her love for the scriptures. She was dedicated to teaching Christians of all denominations the wisdom God gives us for living our economic lives (in the areas of work, saving, investing, spending, borrowing, honesty, and giving.) She had the joy of leading small group studies in Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist, and Evangelical churches helping them get the Crown Financial Ministries education program going. Her other calling was making Catholics more comfortable with the scriptures. To that end she had gotten the Little Rock scripture studies going at Saint John the Evangelist Church. She also co-led a Christ Renews His Parish group and sang in the choir. She said that it was all a real joy. Mary Ann wrote that teaching scripture to Catholics is what the Lord called her to do starting in the mid 1990s and that there were a number of people to whom she grew very close as they made that journey together.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Viera, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 11:00 AM. Burial will take place at Florida Memorial Gardens in Rockledge, FL. For more information or online guestbook, please visit Beckman-Williamson.com.

The family extends heartfelt thanks to Mary Ann’s dear friend, Alice Parzek, for her unwavering support over the past several years. Gratitude also goes to the dedicated staffs of St. Francis Hospice, Autumn House, and to Mary Ann’s home aide Paula Jessamine.