Mattie Lee Stone
November 24, 1944 - June 5, 2021
On June 5th, 2021, at the age of 76, Mattie Lee Stone of Sierra Vista, AZ passed away. She was born in 1944 in Washington, D.C. to Robert "Bob" and Katharine "Kate" (Jundt) Brown, the second of five children. At the age of 7, Mattie and her family left the hustle and bustle of the city to live on a farm in Lewis Flats, New Mexico, where she attended school in a two-room schoolhouse.
After graduating from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico with a degree in English and Education, she had a brief teaching career. She later moved to El Paso, Texas and eventually found her calling as a social worker, providing services to the aged and disabled. She earned a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin while working full time, raising her daughter, and caring for her sick husband. Mattie was a tireless advocate for the vulnerable and the disadvantaged, whether they were her clients, employees, family, or friends. Even in retirement, she remained active in her advocacy with Eldercare for Life.
Mattie was a social worker to her core. She was always taking care of or helping someone. In retirement, she cared lovingly for her aging mother. She touched many lives in countless ways. She is referred to lovingly as Momma Mattie by those to whom she became a substitute mom during their troubled teens. She was forgiving and generous and always gave what she could, even if what she had was very little. She was a supporter of several charities.
Mattie had a quick wit and was a wonderful raconteur. She loved to sit around swapping stories and laughing with loved ones and with strangers. She always came off a long flight with a story about her seatmate. She loved to write. She joined a writer’s circle and was writing her memoirs when she became ill. Her life was not always easy, but Mattie kept going and managed to keep both her faith and her sense of humor.
She is survived by her devoted husband John Stone, her daughter Lara (Raphael) Laufer and grandsons Zev and Micah. She also leaves behind her siblings Jerry Brown, Mary Bunts, Will Brown, and Margaret Madrid, and many beloved family members, including John’s children, Terri Wagner, Cami Cohrt, Laura Wallace, Gerald "Marty" Martin, James Martin, and Alexi Stone, and countless nieces, nephews, cousins, in laws and others. She was widowed twice and preceded in death by her late husband’s Roberto "Sonny" Carreon and Xavier Uzeta, her granddaughter Vanessa Martin-Stone, and her siblings Jacqueline Schultz, Robert Brown Jr, and Richard Brown.
Mattie was a longtime member of Jesus Chapel in El Paso and of Calvary Chapel in Sierra Vista.
We are grateful for the loving care provided by the staff at the Life Care Center of Sierra Vista.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
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