Mary Ann Prenatt passed away on January 14 at her daughter’s Pacific Palisades home, following a courageous 15-year battle with breast cancer. Mary Ann spent much time here while a 20-year resident of Santa Monica, and as a frequent visitor after returning to Indianapolis in 2004. She loved a good Dante’s chopped salad and enjoyed the annual Pacific Palisades Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. She was warmly welcomed at Corpus Christi Church during her frequent visits, and enjoyed the senior group and fiction book group. Mary Ann was born in Olean, New York, on May 5, 1927, the daughter of Swedish immigrants, Selma and John Ander Swanson. Though afflicted with many childhood illnesses, including polio, Mary Ann enjoyed a close family life with her sister Jean and her brothers, Sigurd and Richard. She excelled in music and all domestic arts. While working as a switchboard operator for the New York Telephone Company, Mary Ann met the love of her life, Frank Prenatt, a student at St. Bonaventure University, in her hometown of Olean. Frank died on January 9, 1984, also in Pacific Palisades. Mary Ann supported her husband in his career in finance, accepting the frequent relocations throughout the Midwest that came with promotions and transfers, but it was as a mother that Mary Ann found her life’s calling. When asked for her occupation, she frequently rebuffed the term ‘homemaker,’ preferring to be known simply as a wife and mother. Mary Ann was an accomplished artist, quilter, knitter and craftswoman. She was a charter member of the Quilt Guild of Indianapolis as well as the Santa Monica Quilt Guild. In 2009, she was the featured artist at the nationally recognized Indianapolis Guild Quilt Show. When not creating quilts for her 13 children, 23 grandchildren, four step-grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, Mary Ann made quilts for Iraqi War veterans, babies taken into custody by Child Protective Services, and the Ronald McDonald House, as well as knit caps for the homeless and mufflers for the Merchant Marines. Her life was lived in service to others not only in what she created but in how she encouraged the creativity of others. Mary Ann lived by the words of Erma Bombeck: ‘When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.” In addition to her husband Frank, Mary Ann was preceded in death by her son, Tommy. She is survived by her children, Diane Prenatt, Carol (husband Scott) Sanborn, Eileen (Phil) Beyer, Susan Prenatt, Linda (John) Rodriguez, David (Maria) Prenatt, Steven (Rhea) Prenatt, Anne (Melvin) Green, Mary (Robert) Studenny, Karen (David) Wolfe, John Prenatt and Alyssa (Dennis) Martin; 27 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; her sister, Jean Hannon; sisters-in-law Kathleen Carlson, Patricia McGraw and Jean Swanson; and many friends and quilters. Services and burial will be in Indianapolis.
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