Mary Ann Gauger, a lifelong Sag Harbor resident, died in her sleep at her home on July 22, after a long battle with cancer. She was 80.
Ms. Gauger and her husband, Wayne, to whom she was married for 59 years, raised four children in their Sag Harbor home on Suffolk Street while she wrote and published poetry and worked as an editor. Among the famous writers and screenwriters she worked with closely were Joseph Pintauro, Ellen Frankfort, David Epstein and Jonathan Betuel.
The only child of the late Gladys and James Santacroce, she graduated from Pierson High School and the Katharine Gibbs School in Manhattan. She met Mr. Gauger in 1954, during a visit to Florida, where he was serving in the U.S. Navy. They married six months later.
Ms. Gauger enjoyed her role as wife, mother and housekeeper, making her home an inviting gathering spot for friends, relatives and neighbors—sharing meals, stories and her poetry with them and debating philosophical issues, survivors said. This remained true throughout most of her illness, during which she was regularly visited by everyone from pre-teen weekend neighbors to former elementary school classmates.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by four children, Ann of Binghamton and Stephen, Christopher and wife Paulina, and Joseph, all of Springs; three grandchildren, Christopher, Wayne and Jessie; and Paulina’s three children, Chris, Ricardo and Paula.
Services will be private.
Memorial donations may be made to the Sag Harbor Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 209, Sag Harbor, NY 11963 of the John Jermain Library (earmark for book purchases), 34 West Water Street, Sag Harbor, NY 11963.
on Aug 4, 2014