Mary Ann Crespo
September 20th, 1939—October 28th, 2023
On Thursday, November 2nd we celebrated the life of a very important member of our Parish family of St. Ambrose Church, MARY ANN CRESPO. Fr. Dariusz celebrated her funeral with a large group of many wonderful Parishioners who had come to know her over the years. We couldn’t pinpoint the exact date that she began to serve in many capacities as a volunteer at the Church, but it was well past twenty years. She first volunteered to work with Fr. Dalton as the Head Usher for the masses. Before too long she became the head Sacristan and prepared the Altar for all the daily masses as well as all the Sunday Liturgies. She was at St. Ambrose seven days a week without fail for all those years. She never missed Christmas, or Easter or any Holiday Masses. In addition, she assisted with all weddings and funerals. As the years went by, she worked as the School Librarian for several years. She never had any children of her own but counted the hundreds of children she encountered at school as her own, she knew
all their names and loved them all. She always told us that the Parishioners of
St. Ambrose were the greatest family she could have ever wished for. For years she looked after Fr. Dalton not only to help him at Church, but also to assist him with his day-to-day activities. She would take him to Doctor’s appointments, get his prescriptions, pick up food for him, go to the grocery store or just be there for anything he needed. When Father was diagnosed with cancer, she stepped down as School Librarian and was there for him 24 / 7 to help him deal with his devasting illness. For 7 years she never left him alone. During Father’s last days he told us all how God had sent a saint to look out for him through his many years as a priest and especially dealing with his years of suffering with cancer. Mary Ann had not been involved at St. Ambrose very long before Father gave her the name of “Mother”, the name we all came to know her by. He said she was the “Mother Superior” for an order of nuns known as “The Sisters of Perpetual Agony”! She told us when Parishioners would see her in the Grocery store, they would call her Sister or Mother. She was a member of the St. Ambrose Women’s Council for over twenty years. She served as its treasurer and loved to participate in many of the events that they held throughout the years. She never missed a Carnival and loved working at the gambling booths if you could believe that. Someone once told Fr. Dalton they though it was terrible that he made that poor nun get involved in gambling! When Fr. Dariusz came to St. Ambrose nine years ago it was not hard for him also to become fond of Mary Ann. And when Fr. Dalton passed away and Father Dariusz became our Pastor Mother assisted Father Dariusz just as she had done so for Fr. Dalton for so many years. At her funeral mass father Dariusz told us of how he thought of her as his own mother and how emotional it was for him to say her mass. Two years ago, when Mary Ann had her stroke, Fr. Dariusz stepped right in to take care of her. He hated the idea of her going to a nursing home, so he made arrangements for her to be cared for in her own home. He found people to take care of her and provide meals for her. He found Parishioners who would visit her on a regular basis. She never wanted for anything in her final bedridden years. Many of your fellow Parishioners stepped up and made Mary Ann’s final time on this earth wonderful. It is a loving testimony to the many Parishioners who became the only family Mary Ann ever had. She was buried in the Boca Raton Cemetery next to her beloved husband Victor, whom she had longed to be reunited with since his passing twenty-one years ago. We are convinced that Fr. Dalton was also anxiously waiting for her to arrive and already has many things planned for her to take care of for him in heaven. We are convinced of what Jesus our Lord and Savior must have said to her on her arrival at the gates of heaven. “Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into my loving arms for all of eternity”.