Grace Matan Platt Arbury, loved the outdoors
Grace Matan Platt Arbury, of Bethany Beach, and Annapolis, Md., died Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, after a courageous and prolonged battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her loving husband, children, and grandchildren.
Grace was born June 22, 1938, in Washington, D.C., daughter of the late Anne Marie (Caulfield) Matan and the late M. Joseph Matan. She had five siblings, Joseph Anthony Matan, James Matan, Mary Liipfert, Anne Easby-Smith and the late Thomas Matan.
As a child, Grace spent her summers in Emmitsburg, Md., and then in Rehoboth Beach.
Grace attended the Blessed Sacrament School, Georgetown Visitation, and then University of Maryland, where she met her future husband and father of their three children, Dewitt Platt. As the wife of a naval officer, Grace raised her young family in Florida, Hawaii, and Colorado before settling in Kensington, Md. After retirement, Grace and Dewitt moved to Stowe, Vt., where she enjoyed skiing and volunteering at Blessed Sacrament Parish. After 10 years in Stowe, Grace and Dewitt returned to the Mid-Atlantic with Dewitt dying of cancer in 2007.
In 2009, Grace married longtime family friend and neighbor, Capt. Howard Miniter. They were married until he succumbed to cancer in 2011.
In 2013, she met her husband, Jim Arbury. Together they traveled extensively to Italy, Ireland, and Portugal, cruising the Caribbean and Transatlantic, the opera in Cooperstown, horse racing in Saratoga Springs, and spent winters in Captiva while calling Annapolis and Bethany Beach home.
Grace was a master gardener and loved spending time outdoors, soaking up the sunshine.
Her face, her voice, and her smile made the world a better place for all who encountered her.
She is survived by her husband, Jim; her children, Karen Geppert, Stephen Platt and Jacqueline Needham; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 1, at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 691 Garfield Pkwy., Bethany Beach, with Monsignor John Enzler as celebrant. Friends and family may call beginning at 10 a.m. The Rite of Committal and burial will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 32112 Vines Creek Road, Dagsboro.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Grace’s name to St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, 2305 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218, vincentbaltimore.org/ways-to-give.
Arrangements are being handled by Parsell Funeral Homes, Clarksville Chapel, Ocean View.
