Dr. Mary Ann Osterland Yantis

Dr. Mary Ann Osterland Yantis was born on July 29, 195 to John Osterland and Era Wilson Osterland in Monroe, Louisiana. She graduated with honors from Ouachita Parish High School in 1967. In 1971, she earned a BS in Nursing from Northeast Louisiana University. Soon after, she joined the US Air Force and, among other positions, served as an ICU Staff Nurse and qualified as a flight nurse. While stationed at Travis AFB, she met and married John T Yantis. In September of 1979, they welcomed their daughter, Robyn, to the world. After leaving the Air Force as a Captain, they moved to Lubbock and had their second child, Thomas.

After moving to Highland Village, TX, she pursued her academic career, culminating in a PhD in Adult Education from Texas Woman’s University and serving as a professor at Texas Christian University and eventually retiring as a tenured faculty instructor at Baylor University Herrington School of Nursing.

On August 22, 2025, Mary Ann lost her life to bile duct cancer. She is survived by her children, Robyn Velander and husband Brian, and Thomas Yantis; grandchildren Zoie and Paige Velander and Sofia and Rebcca Yantis; brother, Raymond Osterland, and two nieces, Jana Norton and Tracy Hanson.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to North Monroe Baptist Church.