Maria Katrina Santucci, 51, passed away at her home in Winchester, Virginia, on March 12, 2022.
Maria was born in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, to Ceasar and Victoria Santucci during her parents’ service in the United States Army. Her family moved frequently during her formative years, living as locals in Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Kuwait.
By the time she graduated from The American School of Kuwait in 1988, Maria had established herself as an inspirational and rising stage actress, singer, and monologist. She consistently won high school forensics festivals, including international competitions in Egypt and Greece, but truly came into her commanding stage presence in leading performances in school and national productions. High school friends remember her roles in shows such as Harvey, Oklahoma!, and South Pacific, as well as her celebrated, powerful voice in Kuwait’s national musical variety production of Jukebox in 1987 and 1988.
Maria majored in Theater and Design at Kansas State University. She was the first freshman in the school’s history to play a lead role in KSU’s traditional homecoming production—as Audry in Little Shop of Horrors in 1989. She led casts in Grease, Medea and Midsummer Night’s Dream during her years in college. Her captivating voice and dramatic delivery eventually earned her the Irene Ryan Scholarship National Championship during the American College Theater Festival at the Kennedy Center in 1993.
Maria was a consummate and enduring student of the arts in her professional and personal life after university. Her portfolio included an internship at Milwaukee’s Repertory Theater, comedy training at Second City in Chicago, and Shakespearean study at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2002.
In her personal and professional life, Maria was known for her quick wit, selfless support of friends, and her contagious, joyful laughter. She was versatile and energetic, eventually acting on stage and film in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and numerous other locations where she fulfilled roles from across the stylistic spectrum and earning lifelong friends. Maria was as comfortable eliciting tears of sadness during her delivery of Pericles as she was inspiring tears of joy as Nancy in Oliver!. Her talent was on display nationwide in her role as Helen Banner on the 20th Century Fox TV series The Practice between 1997 and 1998.
Maria returned home to Winchester to be closer to family in 2013, where she began professionalizing her graphic design talents while continuing to act at local theaters and festivals. She supported and inspired performers at Winchester’s Little Theater in productions such as The 39 Steps, Belles, and The Sisters Rosensweig. Also in Winchester, Maria established Tucci Studios, the brand from which she published professional illustrations as standalone commissioned art and as storyline graphics in children’s books and essays. All of Maria’s art portrays her trademark curlicue and impassioned style beloved by authors and readers alike.
Maria is survived by her parents, Ceasar and Vicky; brother, Joe; sister-in-law, Jaime; nephew, Anthony; uncle, Marty and his wife Valerie; aunt Darlene and her husband Gary; cousins Paul, Matthew, Ian, Peter, and Nicolas.
Her viewing will be Sunday, March 20, 2022, 2-4pm, Jones Funeral Home, 228 S. Pleasant Valley Rd., Winchester, VA, 22601. Funeral services to be held Monday, March 21, 2022, 11am, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 130 Keating Dr., Winchester, VA, 22601. Interment will follow immediately at Sacred Heart Cemetery, 115 E. Bond St., Winchester, VA, 22601.
Flowers and dedications may be sent to Jones Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be left at www.jonesfuneralhomes.com