Maria Elena “Merle” was a wonderful, caring and generous woman. She was truly unique, and everyone she touched warmed to her and became a friend, a life-long friend. Born in the Philippines in 1942, Maria Elena was truly distinctive from the beginning, showing a high degree of intelligence, a personality that embodied strength, never taking no for an answer, and a great confidence in herself. She was a wonderful lady that has travelled and lived in most continents, with an immense appreciation and respect for all cultures. She was a person that brought people together regardless of race, language or belief. Maria Elena was also starkly unique in that she could communicate fluently in six languages and several more as needed. As an example, one family memory is of her walking through the maze that is the Khan el-Khalili market in central Cairo. She seemed to know every merchant, rug trader and Egyptian artifacts supplier. Confidently, in fluent Arabic, she bargained, joked and conversed with these citizens of this ancient Cairo souk. At times she appeared to be the center of a family spanning across the globe and spinning around her orbit. She had friends across time zones and climates, religious and political beliefs, and social strata. With a lifetime spanning from the Philippines to Spain, to England, to the US, to Texas, Indonesia, Egypt, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Libya and Morocco, she travelled the world at the speed of flight. Landing in these destinations to create friendships, visit family, discover new languages, understands cultures, unearth local artisans and most importantly, set up a new home for her family; all of this achieved with grace, fearlessness and an effortless aplomb. Expression was not only achieved through language, but also through music, arts, dance and equestrianism. When we moved to a new location, she enthusiastically started setting up a new home and they all were a great expression of her interior design skills – we always lived in a house that would not look out of place in Architecture Digest. Piano was always a presence in the McDowell’s home, Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin; all part of her repertoire, notes gliding through the air, a concoction of majors and minors penetrating our souls. In receptions and parties she loved to host, politics was always a hot topic, regardless of country, political party or economics, Maria Elena was always able to debate, even with Presidents of countries! Horseback riding in Egypt and Buenos Aires was a passion for her, yet in Buenos Aires she found a new passion. She studied art restoration and became an avid student or masterworks and antiques; simultaneously curating the McDowell’s various homes while restoring 17th - 19th Century frames and canvases. And how she loved to dance, put her on the dance floor and the night came alive with a polyglot of sounds she accumulated throughout her life. Maria Elena was an inspiration to so many and a loss to the societies of the world; a loss of one of our special human beings.
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