Maria Ana Magdalena Chattey

Maria Ana Chattey, the beloved wife to Nigel for 60 years. She was the loving mother of Anna, Bonnie, and Maria-Victoria (Mimi). The grandmother of Alana-Maria, Gunnar, Kristian and Gudmunder, and great-grandmother to Dakota and Kalianna. Maria passed peacefully at 3 am on July 16th, 2013 at Good Samaritan Hospice in West Palm Beach, at the age of 92. She had the blessing of celebrating a wonderful birthday at our new house in Royal Palm Beach, on June 30th 2013. Our beloved Maria, her heart as beautiful as the most fragrant and delicate flowers she painted for us throughout her lifetime. Her passing was peaceful and filled with God's blessings. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay on the 30th June 1921 with her twin sister Vlasta Halle. She had two brothers, Heinzi who had two sons, Chico and Martino, and Peter (RIP). Vlasta (Boxi) had three children, Roger (RIP), Titi and Peter. The girls and their brothers lived their early years in Teresopolis, at Pensao Pinheros, in a hotel that her father built in the mountains outside of Rio, Brazil. Maria burned with an exotic passion for excitement and a zest for life that emerged early in her childhood. Maria was seen riding her horse through the family's hotel dining room and kitchen, at the age of 10 she began her passion for painting and drawing, and loved racing cars in her early teens. The beauty of her soul was finely matched by her stunning physical beauty, and as a young woman she was chosen as a fashion model for the early Sears Roebuck in Rio. Maria moved to the United States at the end of the war to help her sister Vlasta with her new family in New York, and returned to Brazil only for visits after that, until her mother was dying. Maria had many admirers in her youth, but it was at a party held at the International House in New York City in 1953, where she met her greatest love – the man who would stay by her side the rest of her life - Nigel Chattey, a dashing young Englishman who had moved to the United States to study at Stamford, and at the time they met, worked for an oil company. Maria and Nigel had a marvelous honeymoon. It included seeing the Inca ruins of Machu Pichu in Peru, the beautiful Bay of Rio de Janeiro and Maria's family hotel to meet her family, and finally the crystal clear waters off the north coast of Jamaica. After marriage in 1954, Maria and Nigel had three daughters. The family settled in Irvington, New York and Maria devoted her life to caring for her family. When she found the time, Maria painted flowers – using her garden and bouquets she would arrange herself as inspiration. With only a few strokes of the brush or pen, Maria could capture the bare essence of her flowers, her oriental style of watercolor inspired by the works of Georgia O'Keeffe, Monet, and Van Gogh. Maria painted even in her nursing home, riddled with arthritis, her later works going back to watercolors, showing the perfection of her unique talent until death took the brush from her hand. Maria rarely allowed sharing these remarkable paintings outside the family circle except as gifts; they were never signed or dated. But each letter she wrote or note she sent always had flowers on it, her medium at that point, having perfected magic markers to extraordinary creations. Together Maria and Nigel shared a love for gardening and together they worked on their Irvington NY property for over 50 years, a site to behold for wonderful garden parties, a true botanical garden, filled with tulips, all types of flowers, and equally fine vegetables, with huge tomatoes and cucumbers, and lettuce… An apple tree with a swing, cherry trees with nooks to climb and read and eat cherries to your heart's content, an incredible raspberry garden. Maria and Nigel did much work to renovate the house over the years, lifting the roof off the house to build a fourth story, a new kitchen, combining the dining room and living room, and many other renovations. Educated by private tutors growing up in the hotel, Maria's perspective on life remained fresh, alive and rich with optimism that all would be sorted out and any dark times would soon pass – they always did. Her faith never faltered, no matter the circumstances. Maria kept diaries most of her life; filled with inner thoughts of a wise and eloquently spoken soul. Maria spoke seven languages and, on a business trip to Indonesia with Nigel, she even began speaking Indonesian. Perhaps her greatest academic achievement came when she adapted an Englishman, Sir James Pitman's Initial Teaching Alphabet to make it available as a teaching tool for children with learning disabilities, thus enabling them to read and write. Even without a "formal education", Maria was hired by the Irvington School District and taught many children. To this day, a policeman on the Irvington Police Force credits Maria's teaching him for his being able to enter the Police Force. She spent many years teaching her daughter Bonnie to read and write; something that the schools said would never happen. Avid readers of the New York Times, Maria and Nigel shared daily eloquent discussions on the most esoteric of topics with their morning tea. They played bridge with dear friends once a week, enjoyed fascinating discussions, played Scrabble together, and had many dear friends over the years…extraordinary people with whom they had vibrant conversations. One secret to their long marriage, an inspiration to us all, was that the house on Cedarlawn Road had a number of ways that each could find their personal space and thus work without interruption for what each of them wanted to do; both enjoyed incredible views of the Hudson River from their studios. Maria supplemented her passion for painting with her passion for cooking… a home cooked meal every night, having been taught the fine art well. Though her life was not marked by world fame or fortune, she contributed greatly to those in her circle and her art is a treasured gift to us all. As we celebrate the life of a magnificent woman, we find peace in the legacy she left behind, and comfort in knowing she is now where the flowers are made. The poem attached was written by her daughter Maria-Victoria the day she fell asleep, as a tribute for all of you who knew her, and learned from her, and loved her, and to those of you who didn't, a picture into this incredible woman's life of wisdom and beauty… THE PAINT BRUSH By Maria- Victoria Solstrand A touch of bright color, slight movement of wrist The painting emerges, family sustaining Teardrops as water drops your paintbrush has kissed your family, your life's greatest painting A dot here, a line there, a simple stroke of the brush The bonds of our family maintaining Your hand the essence of wisdom in touch your family, your life's greatest painting Paint from your brush washing us, shading us devoting your life to our training Now gone from your body, continued on is your promise your family, your life's greatest painting Touches of shadow on white, a fine stroke above Nature's flower, a matriarch reigning We talked of Sartre, Buddhism and God your family, your life's greatest painting Not even with death falls the brush from your hand richness of color alive though now raining You paint for us still, your flowers? we stand your family, your life's greatest painting Dear mother, our mother, how you will be missed Your paintbrush of colors still caressing Dear mother, our mother, one final kiss From your family, your life's greatest painting. Written by your daughter with love and eternal devotion, Mimi. A private family service of ten will take place today, the 19th of July at 3:30 at the Palms West Funeral Home. Everone has been asked to wear bright colors, as she would have wanted. She will be cremated at the beginning of the week, the large urn staying in the house, and small urns for Anna, Bonnie, Mimi, and Alana will be appropriately distributed. Her precious wedding ring will be placed on the inside of the large urn. In lieu of any contributions, a request is made to each one that she touched, to write a short piece of your choosing, of a thought, a memory, a story. These will be put in a book of photos of her early days in Rio, photos of her paintings, and some of her own recollections. Thank you for your additions to this special tribute. Our new address is: 320 Sandpiper Avenue Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411