Woika, Mary Ann (Nana) 3/29/1945- 11/1/2022
Mary Ann “Nana” Woika passed away peacefully on Tuesday November 1st after enduring pancreatic cancer for over 2.5 years. Predeceased by her sister Judith Simiele, brother Timothy Smith, and parents Loretta and Elmer Smith. She is survived by her husband of 53 years John Woika, sister Kathy O’brien, son Jonathan, grandchildren; Jonah, Henry, Ethan, Daughter-in-law Heidi.
Mary Ann was born and raised in Cleveland, OH and she graduated from Marymount Catholic HS class of ‘63. It was here that she met her husband John. They married in April of 1969 by Father Rodger Greis at St Wenceslas in Maple Heights, OH where they started their life together.
Later, moving to Kansas City, Mary and John had their only son and settled in a quiet neighborhood by a beautiful fishing pond where they would often be found. After making lifelong connections, they moved to Dallas, TX for a short time before finally settling in Fairport, NY. It was here that she again made lifelong friends. She volunteered for years at St John of Rochester catholic school where her son attended, assisting in the lunchroom and out on the playground for recess until ultimately hired as school secretary. She worked there for a number of years until retiring to Florida in 2004.
After choosing to retire in the Grand Haven Community near Flagler Beach, FL, Mary Ann quickly made numerous friends that became like family. One of her greatest passions in retirement was traveling and seeing the world. Places visited included: Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, England, Ireland, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Petra Jordan, the Pyramids of Giza and the Holy Land in Israel. (gamepur.com)
At Grand Haven, Mary Ann became a tennis outing coordinator helping to match up players with similar skill sets to enhance the experience of all. She enjoyed bicycle riding on the local trails and also loved playing Mahjong with friends. She later enjoyed teaching her grandchildren how to play in addition to other games such as checkers and jigsaw puzzles.
Nana was very involved in her church, serving as eucharistic minister at St John of Rochester for multiple years before moving to Florida with the same role at Santa Maria del Mar in Flagler beach.
Some of her passions included walking on the beach, moongazing, hiking, and seeing fall foliage especially at Allegheny State Park and the Adirondacks in NY. She also really enjoyed traveling across the US when her family was younger, taking her son to many of the National Parks in the American West.
Family was very important to her. Returning home to Cleveland to visit family was always a priority. She has many loved nieces and nephews: Mary Beth McAteer, Michael, Anne Marie and John Simiele, Nicole Farlow, Matt and Christina Smith, David, Michael, John, Dale and Jim O’brien. She is missed by her sister-in-law Jean Smith, and brothers-in-law Tom Simiele, and Jack O’brien. She will also be missed by her brother-in-law George and Sue Woika.
But by far the most meaningful and celebrated aspect of Nana’s life was her grandchildren. Jonah, Henry and Ethan were the highlight of her life. She never put herself first, was always kind, loving and helpful and would do anything for them. She would regularly fly up from FL to NY to care for them, nothing made her smile more.
A special thank you is in order for her wonderful care team at Wilmot Cancer Center over at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Their exceptional care helped us to dramatically beat the odds and extend her life expectancy with pancreatic cancer from 6 months to 2 years and 10 months.
Nana will surely be missed but never forgotten and continued to be loved each and every day, and we already feel her watching over us.
Calling Hours will be on Sunday November 13th from 6-8pm at Richard H Keenan Funeral Home (Egypt Location) 7501 Pittsford Palmyra Road, Fairport
The Funeral mass will be at 11 am on Monday November 14th at St John of Rochester Church where a light lunch to follow. 8 Wickford Way Fairport, NY 14450
For those unable to attend, her funeral mass it will be livestreamed at: https://stjohnfairport.org/funeral
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: https://pancan.org
Comments
5 responses to “Woika, Mary Ann (Nana)”
Beautiful tribute to a beautiful woman.
Mary Ann always sparkled most when she talked about her grandchildren. When she wasn’t tirelessly working for her church, tennis and neighbourhood communities, she was checking out the cruise lines for her and John’s next adventure. Your tribute to her captured all of this and was filled with love.
Mrs Woika was like sunshine beaming out of the St. John of Rochester School office. Our family was blessed to know her.
Gene and I want to send our condolences to all who knew Mary Ann. I worked with both her and John at St John of Rochester School and enjoyed them both. Mary Ann had a smile that lite up the room and was always ready and able to do all us teachers asked of her. RIP Mary Ann
As parents of two daughters who attended SJR School, we were blessed not only with Mrs. Woika greeting us from the Office to lend support, but with Mr. Woika teaching computer technology. What a gift to the school experience they both were! May you rest in peace, Mrs. Woika. .