Magdalen "Ibi" Matthews

1922 - 2013

NORTHAMPTON - Magdalen "Ibi" Matthews, 90, died peacefully Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013, in Northampton.

Ibi was born Magdolna Ibolya Javor Nov. 23, 1922, in Nove Zamky, Slovakia.

At age 10, she spoke five languages, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, German and English. In 1939, she left war-torn Prague for England, where she completed a degree in fashion design at the Manchester College of Art, and met her husband-to-be, Clifford Matthews. They married in London in 1947, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1950, raising two children and moving from New Haven, Conn., to Painesville, Ohio, then to Winchester, St. Louis, Mo., Wilmette, Ill., and finally Northampton. Ibi embraced life in the United States, but also felt that she was a citizen of the world.

Her jobs included working as a fashion designer in London, teaching the history of costume at Simmons College, and 20 years of teaching art to children in the Winnetka, Ill., public schools, followed by work as a docent in Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.

Her own artwork, painting, drawing and printmaking, was informed by her deep love of nature and her lively sense of design. Warm, perceptive and interested in people, politics, and the world, Ibi was a wonderful person to talk with until the end.

She is survived by her husband Cliff; her children Sandra and Chris Matthews; grandchildren Matthew and Rina Goldfield, and Zack and Quinn Matthewstearn; niece and nephew Ingrid Webb and Ron Falk and their families; cousins Eva and Gabi and their families in Slovakia; and many dear friends far and near.

A memorial celebration of Ibi's life will be held Sept. 7, at 2:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Ibi's memory may be made to the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, designated for the Music Fund.

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