Mildred Fultz Pisani died peacefully in Pikesville, Md., on March 7, 2021, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She was 85.
Given the nickname Ginger by her father when she was a baby, her beauty was as legendary as her fierce independence, quick wit, sharp intelligence, gentle, loving nature, and wonderful laugh, said her family. “Ginger inspired us with her appreciation of the important things in life. She was a lover of nature and gardening, she smiled when she saw a cardinal or a new daffodil, and she could engage toddlers like no one else.”
A former resident of Rye, N.Y. Jupiter, Fla., and Concord, Mass., she was born Mildred Evelyn Fultz in Salem, Indiana, the daughter of Max and Evelyn Fultz. She studied at Wellesley College before her marriage to Leo C. McKenna in 1954.
After six years in Hanover, N.H., the couple moved to New York City and then to Rye, to raise a family. She was the proud and devoted mother of four.
In the 1980s, she took the Series 7 exam, became a licensed general securities representative, and enjoyed a successful career in finance. She took great pride in managing her own portfolio, even after she retired.
She and Mr. McKenna divorced in 1981. Her second husband, Victor Pisani, died over a decade ago.
Mrs. Pisani is survived by her children, John McKenna of Roanoke, Virginia, and Stephen McKenna of New York City, Ann McKenna Jackson of Dutchess County, New York, and Katherine McKenna Brillon of Towson, Maryland.
She also leaves behind eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; four stepsons; as well as her lifelong best friends, her sisters Maxine Witherell Goetschius and Barbara Fultz Martinez. Donations in her memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
