Southbridge: Margaret E. Matys, 65, of Marcy St., passed away on Tuesday, March 10 ^th , in the Rose Monahan Hospice Home, after an illness.

Her mother, Barbara C. (Cudworth) Matys, passed away this past December.  She leaves her father, William E. Matys, Jr. of Sturbridge; her four brothers and a sister, Steve Matys and his wife Julie of Fort Myers, FL, David Matys and his wife Sharon of Grafton, Sarah Skvir and her husband John of Westwood, Andrew Matys and his wife Anita of Switzerland and Martin Matys and his wife Joan of Shrewsbury; her nine nieces and nephews, Christian Matys and his wife Lynda, Jenna Matys, Benjamin Matys and his wife Katie, Emily Matys, Nicholas Skvir, Tobias Matys, Anouk Matys, Jake Matys and Jamie Matys; and three great nieces and nephew, Addison Matys, Ellie Matys and Sam Matys.  She was born in Southbridge and lived in the area all her life.

Margaret was retired but worked in manufacturing and fiber optics for many years at several local firms, including Galileo, Corning, Spectran, and American Superconductor.

She was a lifelong nature lover and a member of the Audubon Society. (There are flocks of birds and a family of wild turkeys in Sturbridge who will miss her acutely.) She enjoyed travel and visited Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada and Alaska as well as family camping throughout the US.  She enjoyed cooking and family gatherings, which gave her the opportunity to try out her latest ice cream recipes.

Her kindness, compassion and dry sense of humor will always be remembered, and she will be endlessly missed.

Her funeral and burial will be private.  There are no calling hours.

In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Monahan Hospice Home in memory of Margaret E Matys to support patient care at VNA Care, Fund Development, 120 Thomas Street, Worcester, MA 01608, or via www.vnacare.org.

The Daniel T. Morrill Funeral Home, 130 Hamilton St., Southbridge, is directing arrangements.