Mrs. Mary Kourmpates' Obituary
Kourmpates, Mary “Sandy”, 90, died peacefully in the care of Suncoast Hospice at Woodside on May 18, 2015. Born May 26, 1924 in Alexandria, VA, she lived many places cross country as a child, to include Richmond, VA, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, D.C. In 1946, she graduated nurses training at Sibley Memorial Hospital, Washington DC and began working at the hospital in between show jobs which included Simrue’s “Peaches” Sky Review where she performed as a trapeze artist and aerialist in the summer of 1948; and toured as a dancer with the traveling Rockettes from 1949 to 1950. She moved to Florida with her family in 1957. In 1960, she married her husband of 47 years, William B. Kourmpates, also an aerialist performer, who preceded her in death in 2007. In 1984 she began working as a Registered Nurse at the Morton Plant Hospital Rehabilitation Facility, where she was affectionately known by friends and staff as Mary “K”. In the late 1980’s through the 1990’s she performed with the group the “Grandmother Rockettes” through the Mary Davis dance studio, where she participated in numerous dance competitions to include Myrtle Beach, SC, San Antonio, TX, and yearly with Showstoppers in Lakeland, FL. She was also preceded in death by her baby brother, Frank, and niece Yvonne. Survivors include daughters Mary (“Jan”) Newman (Larry), Jacqueline Marschall (Dan), her grandson, Curtis Marschall, step-granddaughter Ann Blinkey (Jon), great grandchildren Alyssa and Jacob Blinkey, and nephew Joseph Howard. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested in her memory to either Suncoast Hospice or the Music Ministry of Oakhurst United Methodist Church. A visitation will be held at Memorial Park Funeral Home, Friday, May 22nd from 6-8pm. The service will be held at Oakhurst United Methodist, Saturday, May 23rd at 11am.
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