Anna Mae Savastano Viator

Mrs. Anna Mae Savastano Viator, age 87 of Biloxi, passed away Monday, December 7, 2020. Mrs. Viator was born and raised in Plaquemines Parish, LA along the banks of the Mississippi River in the Braithwaite Community. Anna Mae moved to Biloxi in the early 50’s when she married her husband, Daniel “Warren” Viator, Sr. They were married for sixty-five years before his death in 2016. She was a member of the Aughinbaugh Canning Company women’s softball team that went to the 1961 ASA Major Women’s Slow Pitch Nationals in Cincinnati, OH. She promoted her love for the game by coaching girl’s recreational softball teams for many years in Biloxi. Anna Mae was a true entrepreneur. As a florist for twenty-five years, she worked for Ward’s Flower Shop and Flower Basket in Biloxi and Blossman Florist in Ocean Springs before opening her own shop, The Specialty Flower Shop in Biloxi. After retiring from the floral industry, she started a wholesale ceramic mask business where she created ceramic mask for shops in the New Orleans French Quarter. Mrs. Viator was an active member of the Biloxi Elks Ladies Auxiliary earning numerous honors for her volunteerism with that organization and was also selected as one of the Elk’s Mardi Gras queens. Anna Mae was an artist in the true sense of the word. She sculpted, painted, and crocheted. From paintings, to sculptures, to Mardi Gras ball gowns and costumes, Mrs. Viator loved to create. Anna Mae enjoyed traveling with the Elks, playing bingo, and gardening, but most of all, she enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren. Mrs. Viator is preceded in death by her husband, Daniel “Warren” Viator, Sr.; her parents, Anthony and Virginia Savastano; two brothers, Anthony and EJ Savastano; and three sisters, Linda Savastano, Janette Matranga, and Marie Munch. She is survived by her daughters, Leah (Bo) Lamey and Angela Cooksey; sons, Daniel W. (Carol) Viator, Jr. and Michael Roy (Debbie) Viator; brother, Kenneth (Aloma) Savastano; sister, Lucille Odo; five grandchildren, Justin Viator, Matthew Viator, Lauren Lamey, Amy Slater, and Donald Burnham; and three great grandchildren, Madison Hauge, Brennan Hauge, and Claire Viator. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to Ocean Springs Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 1983, Ocean Springs, MS 39566. A private graveside service will be held at Biloxi National Cemetery. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, Howard Avenue is honored to serve the Viator family.