Mary Ann Tufano of Lancaster passed away unexpectedly on January 25. She brightened countless lives for over 92 years.

She was born in New York City, in Manhattan, to Andrew and Mary Corrigan, and grew up in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. Her father was a cash register salesman, and her mother was a homemaker. She slept on the couch of their modest one-bedroom apartment throughout her entire childhood and young adult life until the day she was married, never thinking anything of it – perhaps one of the foundational pillars of her unwavering humility and disinterest in material things.

Yet Mary Ann's parents found the means to send her to Catholic schools. She commuted via subway each day from Jackson Heights to Manhattan to attend the all-girls Saint Jean the Baptist High School on the Upper East Side. Shortly before graduating, "Chickie", as she was known since childhood to her friends and family, took the civil service exam based on the urging of one of the nuns who was her teacher. Her success with the exam led to a number of positions with the federal government. She transitioned to the private sector by taking a role with Good Housekeeping Magazine, followed by a position with an advertising firm, Bozell & Jacobs, at the dawn of the ad industry's heyday. Displaying a bit of entrepreneurial courage, she subsequently left the firm to help a colleague start his own advertising firm.

Mary Ann was always proud to be a "native New Yorker." She thoroughly enjoyed her career and experiences as a young adult, taking in much of what the city had to offer with lifelong friends, always returning each night to her parents and their apartment in Jackson Heights – her devotion to her parents was steadfast. She had a flair for fashion and found ways to achieve her glamorous look on a frugal budget. She also loved to dance. One night, while out with her friends and their dates at Guy Lombardo's night club on Long Island, her date wasn't interested in dancing; she noticed a young man whose date also didn't seem interested in dancing. Mary Ann approached her future husband and asked, "Do you like to dance?" and the rest, as they say, is history.

Dan and Mary Ann Tufano were married in 1958 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Jackson Heights. She continued to work at the start-up advertising firm until she took on her next role: loving mother. They moved across the Hudson River to Ridgefield, New Jersey, where they bought their first home and established roots. Mary Ann — an only child who at times in her life contemplated becoming a nun — raised four boys: Michael, Paul, Daniel and Mark, who were full of life and quite a handful. On any given day, her sons were swinging from tree vines, climbing up garage roofs, starting campfires in the backyard, having fist fights with each other, and regularly testing the patience and nerves of their mom. Mary Ann, in her quintessential way, "ran towards the fire," serving as Den Mother when her sons were in Cub Scouts and volunteering for myriad "ladies auxiliary" committees that supported Little League or the other school and church activities in which her sons were involved. She insisted that her boys walk home for lunch each day while they were in elementary school (which was around the block from their home) so that she could give them a hot meal and instill in them her own lessons on life.

When Dan's company transferred him from New York City to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1975, Mary Ann once again chose to "run towards the fire:" not only for her boys who were moving to a new state and new schools, and for her husband who had a new position and new colleagues, but also for herself, as she was leaving behind the deep friendships with her neighbors and fellow parishoners in New Jersey and her childhood friends in New York City. In the ultimate display of her resilience and faith, Mary Ann helped her family and herself make the transition; she built new friendships and found new volunteer opportunities while maintaining her friendships from New York and New Jersey for decades. She constantly hosted those friends in Pennsylvania and regularly travelled with Dan to visit them. When her sons got older, she took a position at Red Rose Interiors in Lancaster, doing administrative work and developing yet another "family of friends" that she cherished until the day she died.

Throughout her life, Mary Ann possessed a deep love of God, family and friends. With a never-ending positive attitude, she found great joy in meeting people and had a gift for making meaningful, lasting connections. She had an innate sense of when others were in need, whether it be an elderly person's driveway that needed to be shoveled, a family that needed help getting through hard times, or a widower that needed a phone call on a regular basis from someone who cared. She understood without judgment and took the time to fill those needs — and touch their lives. Mary Ann served others faithfully, quietly and selflessly.

Mary Ann is survived by her husband, Dan, her sons Michael (Colleen) of Lititz, Paul (Christine) of Devon, Daniel (Alexandra) of Lancaster, and Mark (Kelly) of Staten Island, New York. She was the proud grandmother of Joseph, Matthew (Victoria), Alison, Maria (Jason) Showalter, Olivia, Nicholas, and Luke.

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 9:30 am to 11:00 am at Saint John Neuman Church, 601 East Delp Road, Lancaster, on Wednesday, February 4, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 am. Interment will immediately follow the Mass at Saint Joseph's New Catholic Cemetery, 170 Charles Road, Lancaster. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, www.stjude.org .