Mary Ann Abella, Shoreland Resident Master

Mary Ann Abella, who served for 16 years with her husband Isaac Abella, Professor in Physics and the College, as a Shoreland Hall Resident Master, died Saturday, April 24.

A retired professor of art at Chicago State University, Mrs. Abella taught studio art and ceramics and served one term as chair of Chicago State’s art department. She also had taught art at the University’s Laboratory Schools and at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

She received an M.A. in art education from Columbia Teachers College, N.Y., in 1962, and an M.F.A. in ceramics from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1968.

Her ceramic sculptures were exhibited in a number of Chicago galleries, most recently at Renaissance Court in the Chicago Cultural Center.

In 1986, Abella earned an M.B.A. from the University’s Graduate School of Business and was subsequently elected vice-president of the University Professionals of Illinois, a faculty union serving seven unionized Illinois universities. She was chief contract negotiator for AFT Local 4100.

She is survived by her husband, Isaac, a son, Benjamin, a Resident in Emergency Medicine at the University Hospitals, and a daughter, Sarah, principal of the KIPP Chicago Youth Village Academy.

Memorial donations can be made to the KIPP Chicago Youth Village Academy arts program, 2710 S. Dearborn St. Chicago, Ill. 60611.