Obituary of Mary Maughan Patton

Mary was born in New Haven, Connecticut on September 26, 1929 to Margot and William Maughan. She grew up in Durham, NC where her father was a Professor at Duke a University. She studied at the University of NC Greensboro and the Rhode Island School of Design as a Textile Design major. She designed for David and Dash, SM Hexter and Cohn Hall Marx in New York. She married James Richard Patton,Jr. in 1950 while he was attending Harvard Law School. Upon Jim's graduation in 1951, they were stationed at the US Embassy in Saigon for 2 1/2 years. As Jim worked as Special Assistant to the American Ambassador, Mary taught English, Art and American culture to the Vietnamese children and French Foreign Legion before moving back to Washington, DC. Once back in the US, she taught art and was a free lance designer of textiles. She volunteered at the McLean Citizens Association, The Information and Hospitality Service for the State Department, The Smithsonian Women's Committee, The National Council of the Phillips Collection, The Collectors Committee of the National Gallery and the United States Association of Museum Volunteers. She organized and Chaired the Docent program for the Hirschhorn Art Museum and helped start the Smithsonian Craft show. Mary and Jim are life members of The Whitney Museum of Art. In 1989, they purchased a home in Snowmass, Colorado where she continued to paint. She was involved with Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Aspen Institute and the Aspen Music Festival. She served as a Trustee for the Anderson Ranch in Snowmass. Mary and Jim amassed a collection of contemporary art and rare books. Their art has been promised to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC as well as gifted to the Ackland Museum of Art. The rare books have been gifted to the University of North Carolina Wilson Library rare book collection. Mary's wish was always to share art as a teaching tool throughout schools in NC. As an artist, Mary's work has been exhibited at the University of North Carolina, Rhode Island School of Design, Aspen Institute, American Embassy in Vietnam, Smithsonian Third Biennial American Craft Show Exhibition, Corning Glass Institute, McLean Art Club, Washington Print Club, Ackland Art Museum, Corcoran Gallery, Watkins Gallery, Mo's Gallery in Tucson, Arizona and other venues. Married for over 63 years, she is survived by her husband James Richard Patton, Jr. (Jim), her two children James Macon Patton of Sumter, SC (Kim) and Lindsay Patton Kull (Bryan) of Long Valley, NJ. She has four grandchildren, one great grandchild. She has a sister Barbara Eisele and 8 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by William Maughan (father), Margot Fairfield Maughan (mother) and brother William Fredrick Maughan. A memorial service celebrating Mary's life will be held at The Cedars Club House, 100 Cedar Club Drive, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27517 on Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be sent to the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, 57 West 57th Street, Suite 904, New York, New York, 10019 www.alzdiscovery.org (212) 901-8000