Ann-Margaret Ferrante Obituary
Ann-Margaret Ferrante passed away peacefully at her home in Gloucester on November 27, 2025, after a long journey with pancreatic cancer.
A lifelong resident of Gloucester, Ann-Margaret was born at Beverly Hospital on June 26, 1972, to Joseph and Frances (Giacalone) Ferrante. Her parents' Sicilian backgrounds and the jobs they held during her childhood had a big influence on Ann-Margaret; Joseph was a fisherman, and Frances was a school librarian.
Ann-Margaret's childhood was spent growing up in a tight-knit neighborhood of immigrant and immigrant-descended families and the kids of the "churchyard gang.". As a child, she enjoyed playing many sports, a love that carried into adulthood when she watched the Patriots and Celtics games with her mother.
After graduating from Gloucester High School as a member of the Class of 1990, she attended Tufts University, graduating with a double major in economics and international relations. She then earned her juris doctor at Suffolk Law School. Later, during her time as state representative, she attended the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and earned a Master's in Public Administration.
Ann-Margaret's legal and public service career prior to being elected began with working in State Senator Bruce Tarr's office. She initially practiced law with Dwight Ware, whose office was on Pleasant Street in Gloucester. She then joined with Bob Visnick and Kevin Kiely to form the law firm of Kiely, Visnick, and Ferrante, later reforming as Kiely and Ferrante. She also practiced law on behalf of the Gloucester Seafood Auction and served with distinction as the first Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission.
Ann-Margaret was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2008. During her tenure, she served on a number of committees, eventually chairing the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses, and serving as the vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, the highest ranking committee in the House of Representatives.
Throughout her legislative career, Ann-Margaret worked to ensure that Cape Ann always had a seat at the table in legislative matters. She was focused on her fishermen, jobs and economic development, and helping those in need.
Ann-Margaret's connection to the fishing industry through her father led her to be a lifelong advocate for the fishermen. She led the charge to end abusive practices taken by the federal government against fishermen and never stopped proposing and passing policies to support the fishing industry and the working waterfront.
Her mother's job as a school librarian instilled a lifelong love of reading in Ann-Margaret. This love resulted in her paying for books to be distributed by the First R Foundation, bringing Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to Cape Ann's children, and passing a law that would make a statewide Imagination Library possible.
One of Ann-Margaret's proudest achievements was the creation of the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute and Gloucester Biotechnology Academy. GMGI is the prime example of her focus on economic development and job creation. She was delighted that cutting edge fisheries and life science research was being conducted on Cape Ann and that students from Cape Ann were being trained for well-paying careers in the field.
Ann-Margaret is survived by her mother Frances, aunt Grace Ann (Douponce) Giacalone, godparents John and Gerry Willette, many cousins and 14 godchildren. She was predeceased by her father Joseph, aunt Kathleen Giacalone, and uncle John Giacalone.
A visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in St. Ann's Church, Holy Family Parish, 74 Pleasant Street, Gloucester on Thursday, December 4, 2025, followed by a Funeral Mass celebrated at 1:00 p.m. A private burial will follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Ann-Margaret's name to the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at https://labs.dana-farber.org. or the Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute to support the Ferrante Postdoctoral Fellowship at http://gmgi.org.
