* Mary Jayne Kosteva; Retired Dental Hygienist

Mary Jayne Kosteva, a retired dental hygienist, died Friday at her Ventura home. She was 72.

Born Sept. 29, 1925, in Evanston, Ill., Kosteva spent most of her youth in New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.

During World War II, she met and married Navy Lt. George O. Cooke II. The couple had two children, Nancy and George, before Cooke’s death in a 1949 Navy plane crash off San Clemente Island.

She went to dental school at the University of Southern California and in 1952 became a hygienist, her career for 40 years.

Two years after beginning her career, she met and married Michael Kosteva. The couple had a daughter, Kathleen.

Mary Kosteva lived in Ventura for seven years and was a member of Community Presbyterian Church. In her spare time she enjoyed reading, sewing, listening to the radio and taking vacations to Hawaii.

Kosteva is survived by her husband of 43 years, Michael Kosteva; brother, Fred Darling Moffitt; daughters Nancy Swendsen of Burbank and Kathleen Meyer of Ventura; son, George O. Kosteva of Ventura, and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, 3150 Loma Vista Road in Ventura, with the Rev. Edwin Crist officiating.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurses Assn., 1996 Eastman No. 101, Ventura; or to the preschool at Community Presbyterian Church.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, Ventura.