Mary Ann Lacy

In the early morning of September 16, Mary Ann (Underwood) Lacy died peacefully in her Sonoma home of 53 years where she presided over countless holidays and celebrations with her family. Her passing came after a prolonged illness that struck in February 2020.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Mary Ann was the oldest of Kenneth Underwood and Ethel  (Fitzpatrick) Underwood’s four children. She attended St. Cecelia’s grammar school and The Academy of the Presentation High School. Following high school, she attended UC Berkeley for two years. It was after she left Berkeley that she met a U.S. Marine corporal, Verlin Lacy (aka Lacy), from Kansas. After a year of dating, Lacy proposed and the two were married in 1955. Mary Ann and Lacy started a family of two boys, Michael and Timothy, in Daly City. Eventually the fog was too much for Lacy and he convinced Mary Ann to move to Sonoma in 1967, a place Lacy loved and where Mary Ann and her family had summered since the 1930s. In Sonoma, two more children were born to the family, Mary Ann (Bridant) and Sean. Having made a good life in Sonoma, the family was devastated when Lacy succumbed to an aggressive form of lung cancer at 50 years old. Following Lacy’s death and without extensive work experience, Mary Ann took the skills she knew best, taking care of children, and went to work as a classroom aide to support her two young children and to help her two college age children finish their degrees. As her children got older, Mary Ann took a job in medical billing, commuting to Novato each day. She happily retired from that job in 1995 to begin the next chapter of her life, that of a full-time grandma. For more than 20 years, Mary Ann provided child care, transportation, love, support, and encouragement to her eight grandchildren and their parents. Given the closeness of the family, it was only appropriate that her last night be spent surrounded by her loving family as they had done almost every Friday night for the past 25 years.

Mary Ann was preceded in death by her beloved husband Lacy whom she missed dearly every day, her brother Thomas Underwood and his wife Cheryl, and parents Kenneth and Ethel Underwood. She is survived by her four children and their spouses of whom she was so proud: Michael and Nikarre (Redcoff); Timothy; Mary Ann and Theo Bridant; and Sean and Dawn Lacy (Benson). She will be missed dearly by her eight grandchildren: Aidy and Cian Lacy; Theadora, Ian, and Charlotte Bridant; and Amanda, Katie, and Sarah Lacy. They are very grateful to have had their grandma active in their lives for so long. Also surviving her are her sisters: Eugenia Taylor and Donna Kearney; brothers-in-law Arnold Taylor and Jack Kearney; nieces and nephews: Chris Underwood, Thomas Underwood, Eileen Underwood, Donna (Underwood) Bacich, Anthony Taylor, Matthew Taylor, and Kathleen (Taylor) Fidler; and dear friend Evelyn George.

Donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or St. Anthony Foundation are appreciated.

Due to the COVID-19 regulations, only a small service for the immediate family will take place at this time. The family hopes to host a celebration of Mary Ann’s life around the time of her birthday in July 2021.

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