Vincent Michael DeSanti

Obituary

Vincent Michael DeSanti of Columbia, MD passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on Sunday June 28, 2026, just three weeks shy of his 91st birthday. Over the course of his nine decades, “Vince” or “Vinny” to his family and friends, enriched numerous lives with his laughter and joyful nature, his enthusiasm and encouragement, his compassion and wisdom.

He was born in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Queens, NY on July 17, 1935 and raised in Astoria, a son of the late Joseph and Michelina DeSanti. His parents were hard-working Italian immigrants who instilled in him a strong work ethic, a sense of self-sufficiency, and the importance of family.

A lover of good stories and storytelling, Vince shared many tales about his old neighborhood and life in New York during the 1940’s and 50’s. He loved attending his public school where, in an effort to avoid the dreaded label of “teacher’s pet”, he cultivated his clowning and mischief-making talents – which would in later years endear him to all the children in his life. Vince could recall every teacher he had, with an anecdote for each, ranging from poignant to hilarious to harrowing. In high school, he was active in his neighborhood social club, which organized sporting matches, dances and other gatherings. 

Vince was a life-long learner and a natural teacher. He could converse easily with others about a wide range of subjects and was never at a loss for curious facts and random trivia, especially about history, literature and the earth sciences. The first in his family to attend college, he graduated from City College of NY with a B.S. in Geology. An internship through Columbia University placed him on a vessel north of the city assisting with oceanic research, and he spent a summer in Louisiana and Texas working for the U.S. Geological Survey. 

He went on to pursue a graduate degree in a brand-new geology program at the University of Alabama, where he would meet his first wife and bring his first daughter into the world. As a city kid, Vince had a somewhat romanticized image of the South and would often laugh about the culture shock he experienced moving from New York to Alabama. While at UA, he befriended an English professor who helped him get a job writing technical manuals for the rocket engineering students and researchers working in Dr. Wernher von Braun's premier aerospace research hub there. When it became evident to Vince that the geology program was not what he had hoped for, he switched concentrations and earned his M.A. in English. 

From Alabama, Vince moved his young family to Baltimore, MD where his second daughter was born. He took a position at Martin Marietta, a primary aerospace contractor for NASA in the 1960's, continuing as a technical writer and editor for the engineers. From there he was hired as an abstracts writer with Documentation Incorporated (Doc Inc), a pioneer company in the field of information science and computer technology and a major technology contractor for the U.S. government. It was during his time at Doc Inc, in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, that he met he met his second wife and soulmate, Dana (Palmer) Galbraith - also a divorcee with two children of her own, who shared the same birthday. Vince then became a project manager for the Stanford Research Institute where he was contracted with the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) designing, organizing and delivering regional training seminars to state and local government officials in 27 states. He left Stanford Research for a full-time position with the OEO as Intergovernmental Liaison Officer in Washington, DC. In 1968 Vince and Dana married, and by 1972 their blended family had grown to five daughters and a son. When the OEO was dissolved, Vince found a new position as a director in the Division of Information Management & Technology with the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), and in 1976 he moved his family to the new ‘planned community’ of Columbia, MD. Throughout his career, Vince utilized his dual background in science and writing to author several highly-regarded policy papers and sourcebooks on how the federal government handles scientific, agricultural, and electronic data dissemination.  

Following early retirement from GAO in 1993, Vince continued to be active in his community, working as a part-time faculty member at Howard Community College’s Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development. He served as job coach and trainer at the Howard County Detention Center and the Howard County Department of Social Services, and he worked as a TESOL instructor for the Project Literacy Program in the Howard Country Library System. Certified in the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, he particularly enjoyed helping people - especially mid-career and older workers – find jobs best suited to their personalities. 

Service to others was an important part of Vince’s life. Active in the Benjamin B. French Masonic Lodge during his years in Washington, DC, he also volunteered with the Columbia Festival of the Arts, 40-Plus INC, ARC of Howard County, and the Maryland Satsang Society. Vince was a beloved and respected friend and teacher within his spiritual community of Eckankar for 45 years.
His favorite pastimes included going to the theater, watching classic films, reading, writing, working out at the gym, gardening and birdwatching. He loved music and singing, and he will be fondly remembered for his impromptu tunes on the mandolin and harmonica. 

His great joys in life were spending time with his family, traveling to new places, and camping, hiking and swimming in the great outdoors. After retirement, Vince and Dana took several cross-country trips in their camper van exploring state and National parks and visiting historic sites along the Lewis and Clark Trail, up to British Columbia and down the California coast to Monterey. In his lifetime, Vince was able to experience most of the U.S, many parts of Canada and several regions of Italy. 

In addition to his parents, Vince was preceded in death by his brother, Donato DeSanti. He will be deeply missed by his devoted wife and best friend of 58 years, Dana Lee DeSanti, their large and loving family, and many friends. 

He is survived by his six children, Andrea DeSanti (Jim Raistrick) of Windsor Mill, MD; Cristianne Freiert (Joseph) of Hanover, PA; Lezlie Torkelson (Richard) of Saratoga Springs, NY; Scott DeSanti (Norma Jean) of Moore, OK; Maia DeSanti (Scott Burgess) of Philadelphia, PA; and Arianna Berkowitz (Matthew) of Columbia, MD - as well as a nephew and three nieces, eleven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.


A memorial service and celebration of life for his family and friends is planned for August 29, 2026. Details below. 

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial donations in honor of Vincent M. DeSanti to Shenandoah National Park or the MD Satsang Society.

Contributions may be made online at: 
www.snptrust.org and https://eckankarmaryland.org/donate

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