Mary Ingalls Mathewson

Mary Ingalls Mathewson, a 48-year resident of Winnetka, died peacefully in her sleep at Presbyterian Home in Evanston on Saturday, September 13, 2014, just short of her eighty-first birthday. She was born in Chicago on September 30, 1933, to Lorene Whitham Ingalls and Allin Kibben Ingalls, graduated in 1951 from Oak Park River Forest High School and in 1955 from Smith College, in Northampton, Mass., where she majored in education and served as a senior class officer. While in college, she attended Dartmouth Winter Carnival and was chosen Carnival Queen in 1954. She married Joseph D. Mathewson on July 1, 1955, at the Oak Park Presbyterian Church. They had four children, Kent, of Winnetka; Lori Niehaus, of Greenwich, Conn.; Mark, of Boulder, Colo.; and Gwen, of Seattle, and twelve grandchildren, Patrick, Kate and Peter Mathewson; Scott, Emily, Elizabeth and Blake Niehaus; Trevor, Kibben and Luke Mathewson; and Andrew and Evan Coskey. She is also survived by her brother, David Kibben Ingalls, of Santa Fe, N.M.; son-in-law, Christopher Niehaus; daughters-in-law, Kathleen Mathewson and Linnet Mathewson; and Lorraine Rimson. Mary's lifelong passions were home and family. She took meticulous care in directing a renovation of their nineteenth-century home on Oak Street, and successfully petitioned for its listing in the Winnetka Historical Society's Register of Historic Houses. She unfailingly tracked and supported the children's efforts in school and elsewhere, took vicarious pride in their successes, and later relished visiting them as they raised their own families. A proponent of public schools, she served as president of the Skokie School Parent-Teacher Association. She also served as treasurer of the Evanston Hospital Auxiliary. Additionally, she enjoyed flower arranging, participated in shows at the Chicago Botanical Garden, and was president of the Garden Guild of Winnetka. She also worked for a time as a realtor in the office of Jean Wright Real Estate in Winnetka. Her later years were troubled by a number of illnesses and cardiac and orthopedic setbacks, which she endured with courage, strength and resiliency. A visitation will take place at Wm. H. Scott Funeral Home, 1100 Greenleaf Avenue, Wilmette, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 19, 2014. The service will be held at the Winnetka Presbyterian Church, 1255 Willow Road, at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 20, 2014. Burial at Memorial Park Cemetery, in Skokie, will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to The Smith College Fund, 33 Elm Street, Northampton, MA 01063 or the Foundation of Presbyterian Homes, 3200 Grant Street, Evanston, IL 60201. -