Mary Ann Kovacevich Froley
1939 – 2023
Mary Ann Kovacevich leapt from Head Majorette at Point Loma High School to Stanford University on a full scholarship. After graduating, she worked for IBM in Palo Alto, and took a promotion to be a systems engineer in Los Angeles, using their new-fangled punch card technology in the early 1960s.
She and her ex-husband George Froley raised three kids in Los Angeles and then Santa Barbara.
Mary Ann and youngest child, Margaux moved to Santa Barbara in the 1980s, where Mary Ann became involved in many groups, causes and projects around town. Mary Ann was an early adopter of “the recycling craze” in Montecito. She loved her job at UCSB hosting foreign teachers touring the US. She always looked forward to her weekly sailing adventures with her partner, Bill Coulter, and the crew of the Grappa. Volunteering with children at Storytellers always filled her with joy. She was a longtime member of CALM and an avid Zumba dancer at the Montecito YMCA. She adored being a docent at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and she sends her apologies to her docent friends if she lost the only key to the gift shop.
Throughout her 84 years, Mary Ann lived for adventure. One time she wore a dress made of bubble wrap to a New Year’s Eve party, and found out the hard way it was difficult to get out of the car. For her 60th birthday, after the Balkan dancers, Mary Ann performed a party march wearing a bunny costume and banging a drum like the Energizer bunny. She loved to travel and point at things in amazement. She went to Nepal and hiked. She hiked in Peru. She walked the streets of St. Petersburg and saw the Russian Faberge eggs. She visited her kids in all the places they lived, usually bringing things to help them get settled. She and Diana once bought a plaid couch in IKEA in Baltimore and moved it into Diana’s house themselves. Mary Ann traveled to her parents’ home country, Croatia, with both Margaux and John where they discovered there are many Kovaceviches, not all of them cousins.
Mary Ann loved to create and invite beauty into everything she did. She drew a famous picture of a naked lady in purple charcoal in the 1980s, where it hung in the mauve living room for years. She played piano, but she could never keep up with her cousin Stephen. She sent her kids to art classes, bought them dance uniforms, painting supplies, and skateboards. She had a beautiful singing voice though she was secretly shy. She hired a local artist to make a mosaic “magic bench” in her back yard that everyone was invited to sit upon and make wishes. She loved being part of a local writer’s group, and a local book club. Her handwriting was exquisite, and she used to write cute little notes in her kids’ lunches. She made green “holly cookies” at Christmas, and her friend Ania’s famous rum cake. She was looking forward to taking a granddaughter to see The Nutcracker last weekend, and to seeing another granddaughter graduate with a masters in nursing from Johns Hopkins graduate school in May and see her daughter Diana graduate with a law degree in May. Mary Ann enjoyed the idea of swimming. She sat on the beach with her grandkids and watched them in the surf. She could be seen zipping around Santa Barbara in her bright red car with the license plate that says “SLLEBR8.”
Mary Ann was extremely proud of all her kids, especially Margaux. She adored being a grandma with the family name “Maka” given to her by her eldest grandson. She proudly cheered for her granddaughters in volleyball tournaments and running races. When she found out one of her grandkids was trans, she signed up immediately with PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and started putting a purple stripe in her hair.
In November, Mary Ann was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. On December 10, 2023, she died peacefully in her beloved home of 40 years in Montecito surrounded by her loving children and grandchildren.
Mary Ann is survived by her children John, Diana, and Margaux, and their spouses Pam, Carmaig, and Joel; Mary Ann’s grandchildren Simone, Tallulah, Dinko, Ryan, and Ruby; Mary Ann’s beloved brother Martin and dearest sister in law Kathy, cousins Stephen, Lida, Mark, Mary and Debie, and many friends near and far, and her beloved companion Bill.
Mary Ann deeply admired Greta Thunberg and youth climate activists everywhere. Also, she was grateful to have good medical care and insurance, but aware that many people do not. In her honor, if you are moved to send anything, in lieu of flowers, her family asks that you make a donation in Mary Ann’s name to the Santa Barbara Sunrise Movement, a youth climate change group partnering with RIP Medical Debt to buy other people’s medical debt for pennies on the dollar. Helping free other Santa Barbarans from medical debt is in keeping with Mary Ann’s lifelong passion to share joy. Their link is here: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/campaign/sunrise-supporting-medical-debt-relief/?
Mary Ann’s joyful spirit and infectious smile will be remembered and missed greatly. A celebration of life ceremony in her honor will be arranged for early 2024.