Mary Ann Yrizarry, a key figure in the preservation of Sterling Forest and other natural habitats, passed away on Dec. 26, 2025, at the age of 93.
Mary was born in Innsbruck, Austria in 1932 to Soren Anders Mathiasen and Geneva (Gregory) Mathiasen. Her family moved to the United States after World War II and lived in New York City and Ohio before settling in Tuxedo, N.Y. to a home where Mary spent most of her life.
Mary attended Earlham College in Richmond Indiana for two years before moving to New York City where she worked in travel management, including for American Airlines.
Mary’s real passion was for the outdoors, and she was an avid bird watcher and nature enthusiast. During a vacation to visit Mayan ruins in Guatemala, Mary met John Yrizarry, a painter and naturalist, and they married in June 1974. Their mutual interest in the arts, natural history, birding and travel took them on many trips in the United States, Central and South America and Europe. Their journeys were often nature-focused. and intensive. Serious and highly-knowledgeable environmentalists both, they had an uncanny ability to enthuse others to become more aware of the urgency of saving land.
After living in Brooklyn, N.Y. for many years, Mary and John settled in the family home in Sterling Forest where she dedicated her efforts to land preservation. Mary chaired the Sterling Forest Partnership, which played a fundamental role in the establishment of Sterling Forest State Park in 1998. She continued to lead the Sterling Forest Partnership through a years-long effort to purchase and annex to the State Park a 575-acre tract of land long coveted by developers. She involved politicians, philanthropists, journalists, educators, environmentalists, and the grass-roots public in the campaign to defeat the development. Her success was recognized by the Linnaean Society of New York, which selected Mary to receive the Natural History Service Award for her role in saving that crucial tract of unprotected land in Sterling Forest.
After the success of this campaign, Mary joined the board of the Orange County Land Trust, and served many years as the organization’s president. Under her leadership, the Orange County Land Trust helped preserve thousands of acres of land through the negotiation of conservation agreements with private landowners, property donations, and the acquisition of private property.
Mary’s husband, John, died in 2023. She is survived by her two nieces, Jocelyn and Karen Mathiasen, and many friends whose lives she touched.