Lucy Dixwell Mathews Maslanka, 79, of Newark, California, took her last breath just before midnight on December 31, followed by a spectacular display of fireworks in celebration of her life. She passed peacefully at home with family around her.
Lucy spent her childhood in Easton, Connecticut, surrounded by trees and wildlife, where she learned to love nature. She was a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines for 20 years and for United Airlines for another 26 years, and she traveled all the continents with curiosity and awe.
Her joy in life was her beautiful home in nature in the Santa Cruz Mountains in northern California, which she filled with memories from her childhood and her many travels. She also created weavings and carved gourds, exemplifying her creativity. Looking out over the mountains, she could watch an “ever-moving, live painting,” filled with morning mist, beautiful sunsets, and, if you squinted and used your imagination, a tiny streak of ocean. This home was a place of peace and respite to friends and family, who had the privilege of glimpsing her life and her surroundings.
She was predeceased by her parents — Jasper Slaymaker Mathews Jr. and Georgiana Brewer Mathews Beach — and by two husbands, Larry Maslanka and Tommy Kekua, both cancer victims, whom she cared for to the end in that magical home. She is survived by her brother, Arthur Brewer Mathews, and his wife Eda née Ryll (children Owen, Colin, and Ryll), and by her sister, Judith Robinson Mathews, and son Anthony. And equally important, she is survived by her mountain neighbors of many years, beloved caregivers of the past few years, and her wonderful friends from all corners of the earth.
“To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and
the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure
the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one’s self;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and
sung with exultation; OR
To know even one life has breathed easier because you
have lived –
This is to have succeeded.” — Variation of a poem by Bessie Anderson Stanley
Lucy most certainly had a beautifully successful life.
A memorial service will be held in May in California, location and time to be determined.
