MaryAnn T. Main

1940 - 2017

Mrs. MaryAnn Theresa Main, age 77, of Marblehead and formerly of Swampscott, passed away suddenly and peacefully on July 25th, 2017 at home in the loving arms of her husband of 39 years, William Main, after battling ovarian cancer for the last 6 years. Born in 1940 at NY Hospital, Manhattan, the only child to James and Theresa Quintiliani, she graduated from the Performing Arts High School of NY (remember the movie FAME). She graduated from St. Johns University in NY, received her masters from Northeastern Univ. and was certified as a speech pathologist. She served with care the children of Swampscott and Marblehead and the local cerebral palsy clinic for many years before opening her own hat shop, Sonnets and Bonnets, on State St. in Marblehead. Married in 1978, she moved to Marblehead along with her two children from a previous marriage: Theresa Koenke Diaz of Boulder, Colorado, and the late Edmund Koenke of Marblehead. MaryAnn was a lover of the arts, a painter, a calligraphist and a singer. She was a member of the Old North Church choir since 1979 and participated in the Festival Chorus since its inception up until last year. The choir was her extended family that she loved very much. She was a member of the Swampscott Arts Association and participated in their shows regularly. She won several Arts Festival awards over the years, including in 2017. She loved the art classes she took from the late Nordia Kay and from Marty Riskin and others, certainly for the training but no less for the camaraderie with those in the classes. She loved people. Her home is a gallery of the works of almost every artist friend of hers. Regardless of what she was doing, she enjoyed most being present in the moment in the world with others. The jigsaw puzzles she worked on at the Marblehead Council on Aging always opened up conversation. In the evening, she would hardly mention her store's business but would expound on the wonderful people she got to meet each day. She had a personal goal to be able to make someone's life better each day; it was just one way she expressed her deep faith in the Holy. She also gave a great deal of time, talent, and treasure to Old North Church, her spiritual home. But the people she loved the most were her two children and her grandchildren, Leo Diaz and Adam Koenke; her husband; her late parents, Theresa and James Quintiliani; and her maternal grandmother, Mary Ingellis. Though all previous generations of her family are gone, she is survived by many, many cousins and their families as well as a host of friends near and far. There will be a wake at the Old North Church Parish Hall with light food served on Friday, September 8th from 5pm to 8pm, and a funeral service on Saturday, September 9th at 11am, also at Old North Church, 35 Washington Street, Marblehead. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or to the Old North Church Music Patrons Fund, c/o Old North Church, 10 Stacey St., Marblehead, MA 01945. Arrangements by Eustis and Cornell of Marblehead. For additional information or online guestbook please call or visit www.eustisandcornellfuneralhome.com