KENNEBUNK — Muriel Zachary, an artist and an active member of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church who stood up for social justice causes, died Feb. 20. She was 93.
Mrs. Zachary had a lifelong passion for art. She painted in oils, acrylics and watercolors and studied etching, lithography and mono-printing. She showed and sold her work in galleries throughout southern Maine and on Long Island in New York.
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The Rev. Mary Zachary-Lang, the younger of her two children, said her mother inspired many people, herself included, to pursue their passion for art.
Zachary-Lang remembers when she was 16, coming home from Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island and showing her mother a sketch of swans that she had drawn.
“She looked at them and said, ‘Oh my God, you have it,’” Zachary-Lang said. “It was one of those wonderful things you tuck inside.”
Mrs. Zachary lived previously in Lloyd Harbor on Long Island. She was the mother of two children and, for 60 years, the wife of John Zachary.
She also was an artist by day and a homemaker by night. Zachary-Lang said her mother spent hours in her studio in New York, listening to modern and classical music.
When her children came home from school, she would emerge from her studio to make cookies and help them with homework and other activities.
Mrs. Zachary introduced her children to Broadway musicals.
Zachary-Lang remembers touring the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York with her mother. She said her mother enjoyed sharing her love of art with her.
“Her life as an artist was really important to her,” she said. “Everything she did, whether it was cooking or painting, was done as an artist would do. She recorded her day-to-day life through her art. In one of her journals, she had little sketches of 20 robins on the lawn. On the bottom of the page she wrote, ‘Spring can’t be far.’“
Mrs. Zachary and her husband retired early and moved to Kennebunk in 1979. Soon after, they joined the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, where they were active members of the social justice committee.
“She was a real activist,” her daughter said. “They put their bodies where their beliefs were. They passed that along to me. I feel like it’s really important to show up.”
Mrs. Zachary was involved in the Fresh Air Fund, which provides summer vacations in the country for disadvantaged children from New York City.
One year, Mrs. Zachary took in a 5-year-old boy, Angel Irrizarry. Today, Irrizarry is considered part of her family. He was at her bedside when she passed away.
Mrs. Zachary had a close relationship with her grandchildren and took care of them throughout their lives.
“My boys just loved her,” her daughter said. “In the hospital, one of my sons came out of her room in tears, saying, ‘She did so much for me.’ My older son feels the same way. … I’ll miss her. I’ll miss being able to talk about my ideas and creativity and art. I’ll miss being loved like that.”
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at: mcreamer@pressherald.com
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