The idea of this webpage arose in a conversation between our daughter Lisa Costello Woffinden and me. The challenge was how to tell the story of this most remarkable woman in the limited space of a headstone in a small cemetery in our hometown which is hard to get to. From that limited space, who could know her?
I told Lisa that adding Mary Ann’s likeness to Mt. Rushmore would be appropriate recognition of the magnitude of her loving kindness and her energy to share it with everyone all the time. Up popped the idea of a webpage. A webpage URL on a headstone? Next the idea of a QR Code popped up!
Was a QR Code doable on a granite headstone? Lisa’s high school friend owned the company which was going to provide the headstone, and she confirmed that the idea was realistic.
But the technology was not the real challenge. It was to tell about Mary Ann and the way she lived her life so that she comes alive for viewers as she often comes alive for me still.
Mary Ann Sledjeski Barr Costello was born May 8,1946 in Greenport, New York.
She died Dec. 3, 2015 in Sonoma, California while we were traveling from our home in Florida.
Mother of son, Carmen Amici and grandmother of his two daughters, Sydney and Claire, all of Jacksonville, FL.Wife of E. Thomas Costello and step-mom of Lisa Costello Woffinden of New Port Richey, FL, Jonathan Costello of San Francisco, CA and Diana Costello of Lehigh Acres, FL and grandmother to Dale Raynor of Greenport, Alicia Costello of Norfolk, VA and Meghan and Zachary Woffinden of Kennewick, WA.
Mary Ann was predeceased by her parents, Walter and Sophie Sledjeski and her brother Richard, all of Greenport, owners of the former Porky’s Restaurant. She is survived by her sister-in-law Clara Begley Sledjeski and her niece Patricia Sledjeski, both of Greenport.
Mary Ann was a 1964 Greenport High School graduate and a graduate of Ithaca College where she was on the Board of Trustees for 10 years.
After a 30 year career in IBM as a sales and marketing executive, Mary Ann became a partner in the consulting company, Critical Path Strategies of Boerne, Texas. During her tenure she taught global sales practices in over 100 countries around the world.
During that time she also co-founded her own winery, Sable Ridge Vineyards in Sonoma Valley, CA with her then husband, Charles Barr Jr. In the last 14 years, Mary Ann was the Chief Financial Officer for Dr. Alex Loyd Services, LLC of Nashville, TN.
Mary Ann lived in Naples, FL with her husband Tom where she was a remarkable wife, friend, mother, grandmother and business woman.
So if you were to walk up to her gravesite in Greenport, you could scan the barcode on it and read about Mary Ann, a most wonderful woman. She would like that.
