Mary Ann LoCicero Francis

Mary Ann LoCicero Francis, 76, of New Orleans, LA, passed away Monday, February 12, 2024, in the city where she resided for 45 years, Texas City, Texas.

Funeral services will be held 6:00 pm, Monday, February 19, 2024, with a visitation from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m., at Emken-Linton Funeral Home in Texas City. Burial will follow on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. in the Mausoleum of Lake Lawn Metairie in New Orleans, LA.

Mary Ann was born March 7, 1947, in New Orleans, LA.  She was proud that she was raised in New Orleans and of her Sicilian-Italian roots.  She met her future husband, Kenneth Francis, 76, at John McDonogh Senior High where they both attended school.  Their first date was their senior prom in 1965.  Having a strong work ethic, Mary Ann started working at the age of 16, and after graduating high school she worked full-time to put herself through college.  She earned her degree from Soule Business College in 1967, graduating at the top of her class.  She then began her family in August of 1969 when she married her high school sweetheart, Kenneth, in New Orleans LA.  Starting in 1974, the company where Kenneth worked transferred them across Texas and Louisiana before they finally settled into Texas City, TX in 1978 with their two young children, Kenny and Patrice.  While Mary Ann was busy raising her children she worked various jobs before becoming the office manager and bookkeeper of St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church and the associated school in Texas City.  St. Mary’s was more than just a job for 25 years to Mary Ann.  Within the church, she became a member of the St. Anne’s Altar Society for many years and found close friends who would become her Texas City family.  Mary Ann served as the secretary on the board for the Relay for Life fundraiser benefiting the American Cancer Society, a cause close to her heart after losing her father to cancer.  She also served a few years on the board of the American Heart Association.  Her other interests included a passion for regular Bunko gatherings, time spent with family, celebrating Mardi Gras, dancing anywhere she heard music, and stopping off to visit the slot machines in Lake Charles traveling through Louisiana.  Mary Ann always loved to have a good time with large groups of people, from working her way through the crowds at Mardi Gras for a front row spot at the parades, to hosting giant backyard crawfish boils before Easter, to cooking and dancing in the kitchen with her entire family surrounding her.  Mary Ann regularly celebrated life with the ones she loved.  Her greater-than-life spirit will be missed with great sorrow.

Mary Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Gasper LoCicero Jr.  and Patricia Gray LoCicero; her in-laws, Lawson H. Francis, and Ruby Leger Francis; and her younger brother, Joseph LoCicero.

Mary Ann is survived by her husband of 54 years, Kenneth Francis; children, Kenneth Francis Jr. (wife Carrie Francis), Patrice Francis Kersten (husband Ross Kersten); grandchildren, Wyatt Kersten, Ally Kersten, Wade Kersten, Sadie Francis, Beau Kersten; brothers, Gasper LoCicero III (wife Barbara LoCicero), Charles LoCicero; Brothers-in-law, Michael Francis (wife Cathy Francis), Stephen Francis; and numerous loved cousins, nieces, and nephews.
 

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Matthew 5:4