Wendy Winett Costello, age 74, of Stevensville, Maryland, passed away at home on Dec. 3, 2020, surrounded by her loving husband, children and grandchildren, following a courageous 18-month battle with cancer. She was born on Aug. 17, 1946, in San Antonio, the daughter of Arnold S. Winett and Florence H. Winett.
Wendy grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, graduating from Southwest High School, and was a member of Congregation Beth Shalom where she became a Bat Mitzvah. She attended UMKC for one year before transferring to George Washington University in Washington, D.C. It was there that she met the love of her life, Marty Costello, who was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. She graduated in 1968 with a degree in elementary education and began her teaching career at Arnold Elementary School in Arnold, Maryland. Following Marty’s graduation in 1969, they were married in the Naval Academy Chapel.
As the wife of a Marine Corps pilot she spent the next eight years moving frequently while raising their son Adam and daughter Jill, calling Atlanta, Quantico, Virginia, Pensacola, Florida, Beeville, Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and Annapolis, Maryland, home. After transitioning from military life to civilian life, she was a resident of Waukesha, Wisconsin, Upland, California, Brookfield, Wisconsin, Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and Mequon, Wisconsin. She resumed her teaching career in California, teaching at Valencia Elementary and Pioneer Junior High schools. She later continued her passion for childhood education as assistant director of Early Childhood Development at the Milwaukee Jewish Community Center.
Her love of horses led to a change of career in 1995 when she purchased her first broodmare. She built a successful breeding operation as Riverland Farm in Wisconsin, adding several more broodmares to the herd, and adding the Elite Hanoverian stallion Donavan as her foundation stallion. She later added the Oldenberg stallion Rosall to her breeding program. Both stallions were trained and competed by her “tall daughter,” the renowned trainer/rider Jessica Jo Tate. Following Marty’s retirement and their relocation to the Maryland Eastern Shore in 2007, she moved the breeding operation to her farm in Stevensville as Kent Island Sporthorses. She was a highly regarded producer of quality sport horses for dressage and jumping throughout the United States.
In addition to her passion for children and horses, Wendy was an enthusiastic supporter of the Naval Academy. She was an avid tailgater at Navy football games and was a “Sponsor Mom” to numerous midshipmen, who, even after graduating and joining the fleet, are still considered members of the family.
Wendy was preceded in death by her mother, father and older brother Paul. She is survived by husband Marty; son Adam (Helen); daughter Jill; grandsons Corlan and Quincy; brother Don (LuAnne); Aunt Lenore Rosenblum; Uncle Ira Rosenblum; cousins Andrea (Michael) Reynolds and Janice Rosenblum, Dorrie, Jeffrey (Venita) and Harvey Greenbaum, Sherry Schreiber; and her sister Jenny and brother Rob Winett, as well as numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
Inurnment at the Naval Academy columbarium on Monday, Dec. 14, will be preceded by an outdoor service at the columbarium Oratory at 1 p.m. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, friends who wish to register to attend should email: .
Arrangements have been entrusted to Hardesty Funeral Home, Annapolis. Visit www.hardestyfuneralhome.com to share a memory.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Wendy may be directed to Compass Regional Hospice, 160 Coursevall Dr., Centreville, MD 21617, or to the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, P.O. Box 17029, Baltimore, MD 21297, in support of the cancer research work of Dr. Nilofer Azad. Make checks payable to Johns Hopkins University. Gifts may be mailed with a memo indicating that this gift is in memory of Wendy Costello.
