Mary Ann Matheson

Mary Ann Matheson passed away peacefully at home in Arroyo Seco, New Mexico on Saturday,

December 2, 2023 with her family and extended family in attendance.

Mary Ann was born in Carmel, California in 1944 to Anna and Stanley Matheson. Mary Ann

grew up in the neighboring town of Pacific Grove. After attending Pacific Grove High School,

she went to University of California, Berkeley. Mary Ann was inspired by John F. Kennedy’s

inaugural address in 1961 and joined the Peace Corps immediately after graduating from “Cal

Berkeley” in 1966. She was posted to Niger with the Peace Corps from 1966-1968 and taught

English at the secondary school level. In 1969 upon returning to the US, she married fellow

Peace Corps volunteer Mathew Morrison.

Mary Ann and Mathew lived in San Francisco and later moved to Gold Hill, Colorado where they

lived until they divorced in 1978. After leaving Gold Hill, Mary Ann decided to partake in a sitting

meditation retreat at the Lama Foundation, located outside of Taos. She ended up staying six

years at Lama and the experience transformed her outlook on life.

While at Lama, Mary Ann met her future husband Cassim Dunn. Mary Ann and Cassim loved the

Taos area and decided to base themselves there with his son, Sean, eventually marrying and

building a lovely home together in Arroyo Seco. Cassim and Mary Ann hosted a yearly “apple

squeeze” for the neighborhood which became a well-loved annual event.

Mary Ann was a talented gardener and created unusual flower beds and bouquets which were

painted by some of Taos’ most renowned artists. She was generous with her beautiful flowers

and garden vegetables, giving them to friends, neighbors and service providers, as well as

selling amazing dahlia bouquets at the weekly Farmer’s Market in Taos.

Mary Ann’s passion for meditation and cooking came together with an opportunity in 1985 to

become part of the retreat staff at St. Benedict's Monastery a Cistercian (Trappist) monastic

community in Snowmass, Colorado. She would travel to Snowmass from Taos numerous times

every year to participate in these retreats and this activity was the cornerstone of her

professional activity until 2016 when she retired to take care of her husband, Cassim.

Mary Ann was beautiful in mind, body, and spirit. She will be remembered by those who loved

her as an incredibly warm, giving, and thoughtful person, as well as a prolific traditional letter

writer. She wrote letters everyday and maintained correspondence with far-flung family and

friends all over the globe.

Mary Ann is survived by her nephew Geoff Norris and niece Mary Ann Norris, as well as her

step-daughter Shannon and step-son Sean Dunn. A memorial service will be held in 2024 once

the birds begin to sing and the flowers begin to bloom.

Arrangements by Rivera Family Funeral Home.  To share a memory, please visit our website at www.riverafuneralhome.com