Wyse—Mary Elizabeth Wyse, 76, on November 19, 2021, in Monte Vista, Colo., where she and her husband, Richard Wyse, had moved from Tres Piedras, N.M., to receive better medical care for Mary. Mary had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease seven years earlier. She was in home hospice care from July 2021 until her death.
Mary was born on May 17, 1945, to John Gamble and Elizabeth Dahl Gamblein in Bingham, Utah. The family moved to various states including California, Colorado, and New Jersey during her early years.
Mary’s father was Quaker and her mother Mormon. Mary’s paternal grandmother was a Beeson, an English Quaker family. In 1732, Richard Beeson, a Quaker minister, was deeded 100 acres of land in Lancaster County, Pa., by William Penn. Heirs of the family moved to Middleton, Ohio, where John Oliphant Beeson (born July 31, 1826) was disowned by the Quakers for marrying a non-Quaker.
Mary became a member of Santa Fe (N.M.) Meeting in 1999. She founded the Tres Piedras Worship Group under the care of Santa Fe Meeting in 2012. The worship group continued until 2017. Mary attended Santa Fe Meeting in person from time to time and later by Zoom during the COVID crisis.
Mary was a strong advocate of protecting the environment. She farmed organically while living in Tres Piedras. Her friends remember Mary as a kind and welcoming person. She was an award-winning watercolor painter and poet, writing her memoirs in the form of a poem.
Mary is survived by her husband, Richard Wyse; two children, Olivia “Libby” Payne (Tom) and Jennifer Metcalf; a brother, John Gamble; a sister, Sarah Rand; a step-brother, Eric Danysh; and two grandchildren.
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