Mary Ann Robinson
05/28/1928 - 01/02/2025
Mary Ann Waters Robinson, 97, passed peacefully at home on January 2, 2025, attended by her devoted caregivers. On this day, Sarasota lost a longtime community philanthropist and party planner par excellence.
Mary Ann was born on May 28, 1928, to Austin and Daisy Breyer, in Madison, Wisconsin. Mary Ann would fondly recall how her father, a dentist, would accept baked goods, eggs or other offerings from his patients who could not afford his services. This was her first introduction to charitable giving. Mary Ann was attending the National College of Education in Evanston, IL when she met her future husband, Charles (Chas) Waters. They wed October 16, 1948, shortly after he graduated from Northwestern University. Chas cofounded AEC, Inc. and they eventually settled in Barrington Hills, IL. Their family grew to include daughters Karen and Jody, and son Michael.
Mary Ann was actively involved in all her children’s various pursuit’s. She was an enthusiastic and accomplished hostess, giving many parties over the years in support of Chas’ business interests and for the benefit of many charitable causes. She was a board member and volunteer mentor for 16 years at a Catholic school in Chicago that served emotionally disturbed, abused and disadvantaged boys. Mary Ann and the nuns she worked with, would take a group of boys for nine days each in several groups over the course of the summer, to the Water’s 3000 acre ranch in Holton, KS. There the boys enjoyed horseback riding, swimming, camping and other outdoor adventures under the loving and spirited guidance of Mary Ann. She directed and choreographed the annual Follies at her country club in Barrington for many years and was a member of the Sarah Siddons organization in Chicago. She and Chas traveled extensively with their family, often with a large group of their Barrington Hills friends. Life was good for 36 years until Chas passed in April, 1984, after a brief battle with cancer. Mary Ann relocated to Venice, FL to join several of her “Barrington Girls” who had settled there.
She was soon introduced to Robert K. (Robbie) Robinson and a whirlwind courtship ensued. They married in September, 1986, moved to Osprey, where they made long-standing friendships and eventually settled in downtown Sarasota. MaryAnn and Robbie shared a never ending love of sporting activities including golf, skiing, scuba diving, boating, and hiking. They traveled extensively, often with friends and family, to many destinations in the US and abroad. Every year, for over 30 years, Mary Ann spent her birthday at an African safari cam, Mala Mala, in South Africa. It was her favorite place in the world. When she lost her beloved Robbie in 2009, after 23 years of marriage, she took his ashes to Mala Mala in memory of the wonderful times they spent there.
She certainly did not let travel prevent her from her commitments to innumerable charitable causes in Sarasota over the years. Mary Ann didn’t just give money. She also gave of herself. She was an original volunteer with Safe Place And Rape Crisis Center (SPARCC), carrying a beeper and heading out in the dead of night to pick up abused women and take them to the SPARCC shelter. In later years, among many other contributions, she donated funds to build a pet shelter at SPARCC when she learned that battered women were often reluctant to leave their abusive situations if they had to leave their pets behind. She served on the Board for 15 years, three of them as President. When AIDS became a cause of concern and many people shunned those afflicted, Mary Ann volunteered in a clinic for AIDS patients at the Community AIDS Network and made sure that she hugged or held the hands of every patient. CAN eventually named their new facility the ”Mary Ann Robinson Clinic”. She also participated as a contributor and Board member.
At various times, she served on the boards of Designing Women, the Asolo Theatre, YMCA Foundation, Circus Sarasota, West Coast Black Theatre Troupe and the Sarasota Film Festival to name a few. She supported the Animal Rescue Coalition, Florida Studio Theatre, Laughter Unlimited, Catholic Charities and a plethora of other causes and organizations. She could never say no to any request. Mary Ann received many accolades and awards for the gifts she gave to the community and for her hard work for numerous charitable groups, though recognition was never her goal. Mary Ann was a talented party planner and lent her skills to varied causes. She initiated the “Going for the Gold” event which became the main fundraiser for the YMCA Foundation and it continues to this day.
Mary Ann was a fun loving person with a great sense of humor and her red hair certainly matched her personality. She was kind, loyal, compassionate and generous. She genuinely loved people, regardless of their station in life, and treated everyone with equal respect. She was always impeccably dressed and accessorized whether on the golf course, out to lunch or attending a gala event and yet she and Robbie would enthusiastically don silly costumes for Halloween and for a good cause. She was also an adventurer. At the tender age of 87, she flew to the Arctic to take a dog sled trip to view polar bears in the wild. The information for the trek stressed that participants needed to be in top physical condition, able to withstand below freezing temperatures for prolonged periods of time and endure harsh conditions. Mary Ann had the time of her life with no complaints. She could enliven a room with her laugh and somehow quickly turn a stranger into a friend. She lived to shop, claimed she had no need for a budget and that calories didn’t count if you consumed them standing up. She loved a good joke and hot gossip. She was an absolutely amazing woman and will be sorely missed by so many.
Mary Ann was actively involved in all her children’s various pursuit’s. She was an enthusiastic and accomplished hostess, giving many parties over the years in support of Chas’ business interests and for the benefit of many charitable causes. She was a board member and volunteer mentor for 16 years at a Catholic school in Chicago that served emotionally disturbed, abused and disadvantaged boys. Mary Ann and the nuns she worked with, would take a group of boys for nine days each in several groups over the course of the summer, to the Water’s 3000 acre ranch in Holton, KS. There the boys enjoyed horseback riding, swimming, camping and other outdoor adventures under the loving and spirited guidance of Mary Ann. She directed and choreographed the annual Follies at her country club in Barrington for many years and was a member of the Sarah Siddons organization in Chicago. She and Chas traveled extensively with their family, often with a large group of their Barrington Hills friends. Life was good for 36 years until Chas passed in April, 1984, after a brief battle with cancer. Mary Ann relocated to Venice, FL to join several of her “Barrington Girls” who had settled there.
She was soon introduced to Robert K. (Robbie) Robinson and a whirlwind courtship ensued. They married in September, 1986, moved to Osprey, where they made long-standing friendships and eventually settled in downtown Sarasota. MaryAnn and Robbie shared a never ending love of sporting activities including golf, skiing, scuba diving, boating, and hiking. They traveled extensively, often with friends and family, to many destinations in the US and abroad. Every year, for over 30 years, Mary Ann spent her birthday at an African safari cam, Mala Mala, in South Africa. It was her favorite place in the world. When she lost her beloved Robbie in 2009, after 23 years of marriage, she took his ashes to Mala Mala in memory of the wonderful times they spent there.
She certainly did not let travel prevent her from her commitments to innumerable charitable causes in Sarasota over the years. Mary Ann didn’t just give money. She also gave of herself. She was an original volunteer with Safe Place And Rape Crisis Center (SPARCC), carrying a beeper and heading out in the dead of night to pick up abused women and take them to the SPARCC shelter. In later years, among many other contributions, she donated funds to build a pet shelter at SPARCC when she learned that battered women were often reluctant to leave their abusive situations if they had to leave their pets behind. She served on the Board for 15 years, three of them as President. When AIDS became a cause of concern and many people shunned those afflicted, Mary Ann volunteered in a clinic for AIDS patients at the Community AIDS Network and made sure that she hugged or held the hands of every patient. CAN eventually named their new facility the ”Mary Ann Robinson Clinic”. She also participated as a contributor and Board member.
At various times, she served on the boards of Designing Women, the Asolo Theatre, YMCA Foundation, Circus Sarasota, West Coast Black Theatre Troupe and the Sarasota Film Festival to name a few. She supported the Animal Rescue Coalition, Florida Studio Theatre, Laughter Unlimited, Catholic Charities and a plethora of other causes and organizations. She could never say no to any request. Mary Ann received many accolades and awards for the gifts she gave to the community and for her hard work for numerous charitable groups, though recognition was never her goal. Mary Ann was a talented party planner and lent her skills to varied causes. She initiated the “Going for the Gold” event which became the main fundraiser for the YMCA Foundation and it continues to this day.
Mary Ann was a fun loving person with a great sense of humor and her red hair certainly matched her personality. She was kind, loyal, compassionate and generous. She genuinely loved people, regardless of their station in life, and treated everyone with equal respect. She was always impeccably dressed and accessorized whether on the golf course, out to lunch or attending a gala event and yet she and Robbie would enthusiastically don silly costumes for Halloween and for a good cause. She was also an adventurer. At the tender age of 87, she flew to the Arctic to take a dog sled trip to view polar bears in the wild. The information for the trek stressed that participants needed to be in top physical condition, able to withstand below freezing temperatures for prolonged periods of time and endure harsh conditions. Mary Ann had the time of her life with no complaints. She could enliven a room with her laugh and somehow quickly turn a stranger into a friend. She lived to shop, claimed she had no need for a budget and that calories didn’t count if you consumed them standing up. She loved a good joke and hot gossip. She was an absolutely amazing woman and will be sorely missed by so many.
Mary Ann was predeceased by her parents, husbands Chas Waters and Robbie Robinson and her daughter Jody Waters. She is survived by her daughter, Karen Werner and son Michael Waters (Adde) and step-daughters Shari Robinson (Dick Parsons) and Nancy Lippert (Larry). She leaves behind grandchildren Brian Werner (April), Meagan Werner Mann (Steven), Katelyn Werner, Chas Waters (Julieth), Shannon Schnelbach (Justin), Alexandra Eheart (Corey), Channing Hunker and ten great-grandchilden. Also left to mourn her are valued caregivers, Kirsten Schmidt, Rosemary Victor, Adina Garraus, Connie Taft, and her long time Administrator, Debi Gilliland. For those who wish to contribute in memory of Mary Ann, contributions be made to SPARCC (2139 Main St, Sarasota, FL 34237) or The Waters Foundation for Dogs, www.thewatersfoundation.org. Services were private.