Mary Elizabeth Wyse, 76, died on November 19, 2021 in Monte Vista, CO, where she and her husband Richard Wyse had moved from Tres Piedras, NM to receive better medical care for Mary. Mary was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease seven years before her death. She was in home hospice care from July 2021 until her death.
Mary was born on May 17, 1945 in Bingham, UT to John Gamble and Elizabeth Dahl Gamble. 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, a Quaker family from England who was deeded 100 acres of land in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by William Penn in 1732. The land was deeded to Richard Beeson, a Quaker minister. Later heirs of the family moved to Middleton, OH where John Oliphant Beeson (born 7/31/1826) was disowned by the Quakers for “marrying out” which is marrying a non-Quaker!
Mary was a strong advocate of protecting the environment and was against the use of pesticides and GMOs. While living in Tres-Piedras she farmed organically. Her friends remember her as a kind and welcoming person to anyone she met or knew. She became a member of Santa Fe Monthly Meeting in 1999 in Taos, NM. She founded the Tres Piedras, NM Worship Group under the care of SFMM in 2012. It continued until 2017. She also attended SFMM in person from time to time and later by Zoom during the Covid crisis. 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 of Monte Vista, CO; her daughters, Olivia “Libby” Payne (Tom Payne) of Tres Piedras, NM, and Jennifer Metcalf of Carmel Valley, CA; her brother John Gamble of Chico, CA, her sister Sarah Rand of Oxford, MS, a step brother Eric Danysh Oakland, CA and two grandchildren.