Mary Jo was born on January 6, 1945, in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Robert E. Roberto and H. Gertrude (Vail) Roberto.
She worked as a third-grade teacher in Portland, Oregon, for three years, before becoming a full-time mom, a role she cherished.
Mary Jo loved playing mahjong and traveling the world. She also enjoyed knitting, crocheting, and reading fiction. There wasn’t a board game she wouldn’t play, especially when it meant spending time with her grandchildren.
Despite discovering it later in life, she had a passion for golf and enjoyed many years playing at the Longboat Key Club. She was also a former member of Treesdale Golf & Country Club in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, where she also shared her love of the game.
Mary Jo is survived by her beloved husband of nearly 60 years, Francis “Frank” Spinola; her children, Alex (Criss) of Naperville, Illinois, and Andrea (Rob) of Fort Mill, South Carolina; her grandchildren, Adam (Elaina), Emily (Tom), and Andrew; and her great-grandchildren, Corinne, Emmett, and Henry. She was also preceded in death by her grandson, Colin.
A Funeral Mass will be held on November 7, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Church in Longboat Key, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Mary Jo’s memory to the American Heart Association: https://www.heart.org/en/honor-memorial
