Ann Denning (Stephan) Matish
Jan 19, 1942 – Aug 6, 2024
Ann Matish passed away suddenly on August 6th, 12 days after she was diagnosed with plasma cell leukemia and 23 days after the death of her husband, George.
Ann was born in Athens, Ohio, where her father was a professor of engineering at Ohio University. Her family soon moved to Michigan when her father got a job with General Motors.
She went to Redford High School in Detroit, where she played field hockey. She was known for knocking an opposing team player down and immediately helping them back up. While this makes her a very good human, it did not make her a very good field hockey player. She went to Wayne State University, earning a bachelors and masters in dietetics and nutritional and food sciences. While there she met the man who would later become her husband, George Matish. They married on July 24, 1965.
Early in her career Ann worked at Herman Keefer hospital, running their food service program. The hospital was very close to where the 1967 Detroit Rebellion began. In the early days of the rebellion she was directed by the city's police department to make sandwiches for the police in the area. She declined several times to do so because she had sent much of her staff home to make sure their houses and families were ok. It was only when she received a call directly from the mayor that she reluctantly agreed to make the sandwiches.
These stories best personify who Ann was. She was always both a fierce fighter for and a caretaker of her people.
She ultimately started a successful consulting business working with nursing homes to plan their menus, help run their kitchens and ensure they were compliant with state and federal regulations. She particularly enjoyed working for the family owned homes in Detroit because she could do the most good there. She cared for all of her residents and did everything she could to ensure each resident was treated with dignity and respect by her staff.
She took care of her daughters, coming to every swim meet, serving as the choir booster club president and offering her house five times as the site for the annual homecoming float building project. She also warmly welcomed any friend her daughters brought home, giving them a safe and loving place to be for as long as they needed it. These friends would sometimes show up at the house just to hang out with her, because of that love and support.
She took care of her friends as well, hosting the most amazing parties and get-togethers, where everyone was destined to have a good time and feel at home.
She took care of her parents, moving them in with her and George when they moved to Grosse Pointe and later caring for her mother at the end of her life. And she took care of George for all of their lives together but especially in these last few years, when his health and mobility declined.
She had a heart that was big enough to take everyone in, to make everyone feel important and supported and loved. Her capacity to love appeared to be endless.
She was also a lot of fun, full of joy and wickedly funny. She was known for her mystery trips, her cartwheels in the oddest of places, her belief in the "Seatbelt God", and her ability to win any embarrassment contest with her daughters. She was just someone you wanted to be in a room with, and was the person who could always make you laugh and feel better no matter in any circumstance. It is not surprising that George fell in love with her.
Her family and friends are devastated to lose her so soon. While she was 82 years old it wasn't nearly enough time with her. They will remember her unequivocal love for and devotion to her children and grandchildren, her ability to find joy in any situation and her seemingly endless capacity for love of and belief in her fellow human beings.
She is survived by her daughters, Tatyana Guifarro and Alexandra (Sascha) Matish; her daughter-in-law, Beverly Davidson; and her five grandchildren, whom she dearly loved and adored, Nadya, Rosie, Violette, Dahlia, and Jazmin. She was preceded in death by her husband, George Matish; brother, James Otto Stephan; and parents James and Rose Stephan.
The family will be holding a Celebration of Life on October 12, 2024 at the Michigan League in Ann Arbor, MI
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