Longtime Florida Studio Theatre patron is honored for providing $1.25 million bequest
Florida Studio Theatre is honoring the late Mary Jo Reston, an FST supporter for nearly two decades, for providing a $1.25 million gift that will help sustain the nonprofit theater company's artistic excellence for generations to come.
Reston will be honored as a Platinum Underwriter in perpetuity for all of FST's programming, FST said, ensuring that the productions she cherished will continue to inspire audiences for years to come.
'Mary Jo Reston was a steadfast supporter of Florida Studio Theatre for many years [but] this was a tremendous surprise to us," FST managing director Rebecca Hopkins said. "We were in awe to discover she had left us such a meaningful gift. She truly understood the mission of FST, and this gift will help us continue to serve our community for decades to come.'
Reston, who died in February 2024, was a steadfast presence at FST, attending Mainstage and Cabaret performances for more than 17 years. In 2012, she further demonstrated her commitment by purchasing a brick during the Gompertz Campaign.
Without notifying the theater, Reston had named FST as a beneficiary in her estate plans. Her planned legacy gift of $1 million, received in July 2024, was followed by a residual gift of $250,000 in February 2025 that came as an unexpected tribute to FST.
Reston was business manager and later a publisher of The Vineyard Gazette in Martha's Vineyard – roles she held for 25 years alongside her then-husband Richard Reston, a former journalist for the Los Angeles Times. The couple went around the world with The Los Angeles Times before moving to Martha's Vineyard in 1975 to run the Vineyard Gazette. The couple became co-publishers in 1988. Reston was deeply involved in running the Gazette, ensuring the paper thrived from behind the scenes.
Reston retired from her leadership posts at the Vineyard Gazette in 1999, moving to Sarasota to spend her retirement. She began her career as a schoolteacher in Wisconsin before moving to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Republican National Committee and at Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
"Every year we will remember her as she continues to have an impact on the [Florida Studio Theatre] through her legacy," Hopkins said.
Submitted by Wendy Kiesewetter with staff report
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Longtime Florida Studio Theatre patron honored for $1.25 million gift
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