Ann Guinta Wilkinson

1935 - 2017

Ann Guinta Wilkinson died peacefully in her home on March 27, 2017. She was 81 years old. She was born in New Orleans on December 15, 1935, the daughter of the late Natale Guinta and Antonia (Lena) DiGiovanni Guinta and the sister of the late Lt. Col. Joseph Guinta. She married the late Joseph C. Wilkinson on June 26, 1954, and they were a devoted married couple and bedrocks of their Terrytown and Gretna, Louisiana, communities for 54 years. Ann was the smartest girl in her class at St. Teresa School and the salutatorian of the 1953 graduating class of Redemptorist High School in the Irish Channel. For the first 15 years of her marriage, she was a dedicated stay-at-home mom to her seven children, Jay (Sue), Terri, Tom (Antoinette), Steve, Judy (Richard), Lynn (Todd) and Matt, all of whom survive her. When her children were all settled into Christ the King School, she returned to school herself, and earned her RN degree in nursing from Hotel Dieu School of Nursing in 1971 and her Family Nurse Practitioner certificate from the Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine in 1978. She was one of the first licensed nurse practitioners in Louisiana. She worked her entire distinguished medical career in New Orleans, including as a staff nurse at DePaul Hospital 1971-73; Assistant Clinical Instructor at Hotel Dieu School of Nursing 1973-74; Head Nurse in the Adult Unit at Coliseum House; and for 30 years as Clinical Research Nurse at the Tulane Medical School, Section of Oncology/Hematology, Tulane Cancer Center. She was the confidante and adviser of some of the most distinguished physicians in the city, including Drs. Jack Stuckey, German Beltran, Salvador Caputo and Leonard Thomas. She was a mentor to numerous medical and nursing students, some of who called her "Mama," and a friend and caregiver to countless cancer patients, many of whom she saw at the old Charity Hospital in New Orleans, where she regularly made rounds and worked at one of her favorite duties. She was a charter member of the Oncology Nursing Society 1975--98; Secretary and member of the Southwest Oncology Group, Nurse Oncologist Committee; Affiliate Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association of Cancer Research; and President in 1981 of New Orleans Oncology Nurses. She presented two papers to professional associations concerning cancer research. Despite the demands of her outstanding professional life, she remained a devoted and fulltime mother, wife, grand-mother and great-grandmother. Her surviving grandchildren are Katie Wilkinson O'Leary (Patrick), Kristie Wilkinson Curry (Chris), Michael Wilkinson; Logan and Jake Wilkinson; Erin, Sara, Reece and Quynn Sisto; Lila and Nathan Sheon; Hayden and Hannah Wilkinson. Her surviving great-grandchildren are Emily and Lindsay Curry and Avery and Madeline O'Leary. She loved her family, her religion, her Sicilian heritage, her little red Smart car and, above all, her husband. She was a dedicated Roman Catholic and parishioner of Christ the King Church in Terrytown 1962-2007 and St. Joseph Church in Gretna from 2007 until her death. She was a spectacular baker of Italian cookies of all kinds, especially cucidati, and hostess to decades of family holiday banquets. She will be greatly missed. Friends and family are invited to attend Memorial Mass in the Chapel of Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home on Friday, March 31, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. Visitation will begin at 11:00 a.m. until Mass time. Interment will follow in Metairie Cemetery. The family invites you to share your thoughts, fond memories and condolences online at www.lakelawnmetairie.com.