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Letter to the editor

Ann Kearney, member of Mastry clan

By CRAIG BASSE
Published June 26, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - For years, Ann Mastry Kearney sold real estate.

She also helped lead the United Way and the Florida Suncoast Opera Guild and the Sweet Adelines.

At one time, she was president of the Women's Chamber of Commerce of the Gulf Beaches and a performer at the St. Petersburg Little Theatre. Into her 90s, she volunteered her time for the needy and regularly modeled clothing for charitable fashion shows.

"She was a live wire, " her son, John E. Kearney Sr., of St. Pete Beach, said Monday.

Mrs. Kearney, a member of the extended Mastry family, part of the St. Petersburg scene since the early 1900s, died Saturday (June 23, 2007) at Bayfront Medical Center. She was 98.

The oldest of 10 children, she was a sister of Lay Mastry, owner of Mastry's Bar and Grill, and Jameel "Jim" Mastry, a downtown real estate investor and sportsman.

For more than a half century, she was active in civic and community affairs.

"She had tremendous energy and was always looking out for others, always giving to others, " her son said. "On the day she died, she asked us if we were okay, if we needed anything."

Born in Tampa, she came here as an infant and attended local schools, graduating from St. Petersburg High School.

In 1936, she married Edward C. Kearney Jr., a civilian engineer for the Army in Fort Rucker, Ala. He died in 1944.

Among her myriad roles in the community, she was a volunteer at the Sunshine Senior Center and the Christmas Toy Shop.

In recognition of her volunteer work, she was named a princess in 1989 in the court of the Queen of Hearts at the annual charity ball. Nine years ago, she was inducted into the St. Petersburg Senior Hall of Fame.

Her memberships included St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, where she was president of Episcopal Church Women, a lay reader and choir member.

Survivors in addition to her son include a daughter, Shirley Ann Ball, of St. Petersburg; two sisters, Juliet Mastry Miller, of South Pasadena, and Marguerite Mastry Dawson, of St. Petersburg; a brother, Mike Mastry, of St. Petersburg; and seven grandchildren, Kimberly Elizabeth Kearney, John E. Kearney Jr., Scott C. Haefele, Blakemore E. Kearney, Lori Anne Bahri, Jaclyn Susan Turner and Brad A. Ball; and 11 great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral, 140 Fourth St. N., followed by a celebration of her life at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Burial will be at Royal Palm Cemetery.

David C. Gross Funeral Home and Cremation Center, Central Avenue Chapel, is in charge.

[Last modified June 26, 2007, 00:25:00]