Maria Georgiana Restuccia

Maria Georgiana Restuccia died on February 23, 2017 after a lengthy illness. She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Bernard (“Rusty”) Restuccia, who died on October 31, 2012. She is survived by her three sons, Jon (JoAnn) Restuccia, Paul (Ashley) Restuccia, and Eric (Nancy) Restuccia, as well as by eleven grandchildren: Jon’s three children, Benjamin, Natalie, and Nathan, and Eric’s eight children, Dominic, Maria, Margaret, Anna, Vincent, Angela, Joseph, and Paul. She is also survived by two sisters, Joan (Richard) Gillespie and Angela (Kenneth) Hague, and by one brother, John Georgiana. She was also preceded in death by her brother, Joseph Georgiana.

Maria was born in 1936 in Gibbstown (Woodbury), New Jersey, the daughter of Andrew Michael Georgiana and Loretta (Cassidy) Georgiana. She sometimes referred to herself as a “Jersey girl.” She graduated from Paulsboro high school in 1954, received her diploma in nursing from Johns Hopkins in 1957, and received her bachelor of science and a Master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961.

Maria met Rusty Restuccia at the University of Pennsylvania in 1961, where Rusty was studying business. They were engaged on February 26, 1961, while having had dinner at the Latin Casino where Johnny Mathis sang “Maria” and married on June 24, 1961 at St. Michael’s Church in Gibbstown. Maria and Rusty spent a few months in Sweden before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they would spend the majority of their lives together. Rusty worked for Ford Motor Company from 1961 until his retirement in 1994. They selected Ann Arbor because of its beauty, having visited the city earlier while her brother Joseph was a law student at the University of Michigan.

While Maria was a homemaker with a passion for her family, she also enjoyed a great interest in medicine and education, earning a second Master’s degree in 1988, this time in Nutrition, and finally earned her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan in 1993. All correspondences from the University identify her as “Dr. Maria Restuccia.” Maria did a little teaching at the University, but was unable to continue as her health declined after her graduation in the mid-1990s.

Maria was dedicated to her family. She lived on Geddes Avenue in Ann Arbor for the last 40 years. She was involved in civic organizations in the community. She served on the board of the Father Pat Jackson House for many years, assisting unwed mothers and their unborn children. She also was active in the Farm and Garden Club of Ann Arbor, as well as the Ann Arbor City Club for many years, serving in various capacities, including President, Chair of Marketing, and Secretary. Maria also had served as a catechist at St. Francis Church for several years.

Maria was an impassioned fan of the University of Michigan sports teams, the family holding season tickets to the football and basketball team for more than 40 years. She was unable to convert her husband, Rusty, who remained a die-hard Wisconsin fan as he was a graduate from Wisconsin, and considered himself “a Badger among Wolverines.” She was a longtime tennis player, having won the mixed doubles tournament with her son, Jon. In the 1990s, she turned her attention to bridge at the Ann Arbor City Club and the Ann Arbor Senior Center. She enjoyed traveling; she visited Italy several times over the years, and went to China with her son Paul as a part of a medical trip. She was also a fan of the old Latin Mass, enjoying the historic music of the Church, and attending several Latin liturgy conventions with her son, Eric.

While she was active in the community and had an interest in sports, Maria’s true love in life was her husband of more than 50 years, Rusty Restuccia. As she would say, he was “one of a kind.” She never really recovered from his death and was prepared to join him. Her life’s focus was her family, and the time she spent with her family she described as life’s “golden moments.”

In lieu of flowers, please send any donations in her name to one of the two following charities:

• “Maria Georgiana Restuccia Scholarship” established at Johns Hopkins in 1999, School of Nursing, 525 N. Wolfe Street, Rm 501, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205

• “Felix B. Restuccia Chancellor’s Scholarship Fund,” (established in the name of Rusty’s father), 117 Bascom Hall, Madison, Wisconsin 53706.

Maria's visitation will be held at Muehlig Funeral Home 403 South Fourth Avenue in Ann Arbor on Friday, March 3, 2017 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., with rosary at 7:00 p.m. The Requiem Mass will be held at Old St. Patrick Catholic Church, 5671 Whitmore Lake Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, on Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 10:30 am, with burial at Forest Hills Cemetery in Ann Arbor to follow. Please share a memory of Maria with her family at her on line guest book.