Mary Ann Matthews

Mary Ann Matthews of South Haven, died February 10, 2018 at her home, under the care of her loving family, friends and dedicated caregivers. MaryAnn was born on May 12, 1930 in Chicago, IL. To Walter and Anne Sherman. 

MaryAnn grew up on Chicago’s South Side and attended Little Flower Grade School and Longwood Academy, graduating in 1948.  She then obtained a Medical Technician Certificate and ten years later decided to pursue her dream to become an RN.  She attended the College of Saint Teresa in Winona, MN, where she graduated in 1962 after completing her clinical work at the Mayo Clinic Hospital.

Over the next 12 years, she worked as a Public Health Nurse for Cook County IL, and a school nurse for Illinois Institute of Technology.  She then moved with her father and sister to Palm Springs, CA., where she worked in a private medical office that had many of the most famous Hollywood Movie Stars as their patients.  She retired in 1992 and started her new life as the wife of her teenage boyfriend, John Matthews.  She concluded her medical career as a volunteer RN at CountrySide in South Haven. In retirement she pursued her hobby of watercolor painting, and was an original member of the Lakeshore Painting Group in South Haven.  Her real painting talent was in landscapes and beach scenes, but also included many scenes from her days in Palm Springs.  Her paintings were exhibited in the South Haven Center for the Arts and the South Haven Library.  She also traveled extensively with her husband and previously with her sister Jeanette.

Her travels included North Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia and recent trips to Alaska, Eastern Europe, Turkey, the Ukraine, the Black Sea area, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel. MaryAnn married John Matthews on January 18, 1992 in Palm Springs, CA. She was a member of St. Basil’s Catholic Church in South Haven, MI.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters-Jeanette, Marge, Lillian, and her brothers- Walter and Edward Sherman and step-daughter Susan Matthews.  She is survived by her husband John, her step-children Mark (Vicki) of Coloma, MI, Robert (Jan) of Orange, CA and Theresa (Michael) Madison of Ann Arbor, MI, and her step-grandchildren Thomas and Michael (Michele) Matthews, Morgan and Michelle Madison and Paige (Jeremy) Sinclair.  Also surviving are her nieces and nephews, Barbara Reynolds of Naperville, IL, Dan Reynolds (Jeanne) of Ogden Dunes, IN, Cathy Woodruff (Mike) of Houston, TX, Bill (Sandra) Sherman of Bloomfield Hills, MI, and Linda Sherman of San Antonio, TX.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at the Filbrandt Family Funeral Home in South Haven.  Mass of Christian burial will be at St. Basil Catholic Church in South Haven on Friday Feb.16 at 11 am with Father Jim Morris officiating.  MaryAnn will be laid to rest at North Shore Memory Gardens in Hagar Shores, MI.  In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, P.O. Box 2151, 501 St. Jude’s Place, Memphis, TN 38101-2151.