Maria Nina Gesmundo

Maria was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Serafino “Gus” Gesmundo and Marian “Midge” Gesmundo, one of 13 children born into a large and loving Italian family that became an integral part of the Richland/Gull Lake community.

Maria had a love for God, and the teachings of Jesus. She lived these beliefs - she was kind, compassionate, generous, forgiving, faithful, courageous, and humble. One of her favorite scriptures was 2 Timothy 1:7 which reads: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Those who knew Maria knew she was not afraid of anything and that she spoke her mind firmly with love and conviction.

Maria was active and adventurous much of her life. She lived as a free spirit, took risks, and regularly made contact with total strangers, some who became lifelong friends. She often spoke of hitchhiking to Colorado and staying in Estes Park as a teenager. She enjoyed running and became an avid biker, competing in the Gull Lake Triathlon with her husband Andrew. In her 30’s, she started a women’s soccer team and played as a goalie. Maria was an entrepreneur with a passion for helping others and a gift for caretaking. She started a daycare center above the old Gull View Market in the early 1980’s and continued her love and care for children for many years. She later started “We Care Cleaning Service” with many clients around Gull Lake who trusted her service and become fast friends. She moved to Jamaica for a period of time and ran a bed and breakfast in Runaway Bay. There she met and forged relationships with many worldwide travelers who stayed and ate in her home. Some years after returning to the states, she studied and became qualified to care for the elderly, serving them in their homes.

In her early sixties, Maria travelled solo by car over 3,000 miles across the country to visit her eldest son, Serafino. She created many memories along the way, staying with people she had just met and even living in a tree house on someone’s property for a few weeks. Maria lived with gusto. She was an avid swimmer both as a child and into adulthood.  She swam across Gull Lake when she was eleven years old and later the length of Gull Lake at 50 years old supported by her children and friends.  Maria loved healthy food and was quite a good cook. She made delicious soups from scratch, her mother’s secret spaghetti and meatballs recipe, and loved to curl up with pan-popped popcorn and watch movies. She appreciated the blessings of life and had a good attitude even when things got rough. One of her famous quotes, perhaps which came from her parents was, “better than a sharp stick in the eye.” She was an optimist. Maria was extremely generous - anyone who knew her knew she would give them the shirt off her back, literally, if they needed it. She was a giver.

One of the elements of life that was most important to Maria was her family. She deeply loved her five children - Serafino Gesmundo, Kristen (Justin Suiter) Warner, Andrew (Nichole) Warner, Makala (Julia) Mayer-Ferguson and John Ferguson; her grandchildren - Caleb Palmer, Isaiah Palmer, Canyon Gesmundo, Eli Warner, Kaia Gesmundo, Maya Warner and Justin Suiter; and her great grandchildren - Thea Ferguson, Ronan Ferguson, Athena Palmer, Castiel Palmer, and Royce Ferguson all who loved spending time in her company. Maria is survived by siblings Joe (Sherry) Gesmundo, Jack (Martha) Gesmundo, Gail (Jim) Lyons, Gary Gesmundo, Judah Gesmundo, Jim Gesmundo, Jay (Michelle Libbrecht) Gesmundo, Vicki (Mike Marcinek) Gesmundo, and Marymarie (Mark) Rice and her many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Andrew Warner, her brother John Paul Gesmundo, and her parents Serafino and Marian Gesmundo.

A Celebration of Maria’s Life will be held 12:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19th at the family lot on Gull Lake, 10605 Wildwood Drive Richland, MI 49083. In lieu of flowers, memorials directed to the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission, would be appreciated. Arrangements by the Farley Estes Dowdle Funeral Cremation Preneed Care, Richland Chapel. Personal messages for the family and favorite memories of Maria may be placed at www.farleyestesdowdle.com.