Roberta Mauck Ames of Richmond, passed away on Jan. 9, 2019.
She was born Roberta Caroline Cutchins on Sept. 24, 1932, the daughter of the late Louis E. Cutchins and Cary Valentine Cutchins.
A native of Richmond, Virginia, she attended Collegiate School when it was located on Monument Avenue and transferred to Saint Catherine’s School where she graduated in 1950. She then attended Hollins College.
Roberta was a wife, mother and professional artist, and passionate about plants, cooking, the Chesapeake Bay, and her dogs.
She was married to Dr. William Rutherford Mauck for many years, and they had three children: William Rutherford Mauck Jr. (Nancy), Andrew Gray Mauck (Anne), and Cary Cutchins Mauck (Missy). All four survive her along with their eight grandchildren, whom she loved dearly (Caroline, Billy, Stuart, Emily, Sally, Cary, Graham and Isabel).
In 1983, Roberta married Sheppard Kellam Ames of Cape Charles, Virginia, and they remained married until he passed away on June 26, 2017. Shepp’s children, Kellam Ames of Raleigh, North Carolina, Benjamin Ames of Arlington, Virginia, and Ella Lyons of Falls Church, Virginia, survive her.
Roberta and Shepp lived at “Carobian,” a farm on the North River in Mathews County where Roberta spent countless hours in her garden and greenhouse. If not an artist, she would have been a horticulturist. Growing up, she spent time each summer at “Odds N’ Ends,” her parents’ rustic cottage in Urbanna where she learned to fish and crab and love the Bay
Roberta studied art at Hollins and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, in numerous workshops and with several excellent art teachers, including her friend, the late Barclay Sheaks. She painted in oils and acrylics but her favorite medium was pastels. Color and light were her primary focus. Subject matters came from her home, gardens, Mathews County and the ocean and dunes of Nags Head. She won numerous awards for artistic merit, including at the Twentieth Century Gallery in Williamsburg, the Rappahannock Art League’s Annual Exhibition and Mathews Market Days. She was past president of the Mathews Art Group. An excellent cook, she won multiple ribbons at the Virginia State Fair for her mint and rose geranium jellies and her dried flower arrangements. No family weekend at “Carobian” was complete without “Bertie’s” delicious “green cake.”
Most of all, Roberta was passionate about her family. Her lifetime friend and confidante was her late sister, Cary Cutchins Stratford, and her consistent message to her children was to above all put family first. Her marriage to Shepp was an example of what true love means and the family will be forever thankful for the remarkable effort and love he provided during her long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. The family may be contacted c/o Andrew Mauck, 7111 University Drive, Richmond, Va. 23229.