Mary Shah

Mary Jean Shah, 69, died Wednesday, March 05, 2014, at Durango, Colorado, after collapsing while skiing at Wolf Creek Ski Area. Jean was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Florence and Roy Maulding on September 11, 1944. She graduated from high school in 1962 and later earned a BA in art history and an MBA from the University of Houston. After growing up in Texas, she lived in New York City, Thailand, Japan, and Singapore, before eventually returning to Texas. In 2002 she and her husband moved to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. They spent their summers on Cape Cod in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and traveled extensively throughout the year, most recently to Eastern Europe and Central America. Jean was a member of the Gray Wolves Ski Club and the San Juan Outdoor Club in Colorado. She spent hours outside: hiking and gardening in the summer and skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. She was a dedicated watercolorist and photographer. She was also an avid reader and was taking Spanish lessons. Jean is survived by her husband of 22 years, Gautam N. Shah; her three daughters, Lisa, Katie, and Sara Story and their husbands, Philip Kaplan, Chad Wold, and Ken Garschina; her two stepdaughters, Tanya Gray and Zarina Shah and their husbands, Joel Gray and Jacques Oppinger. She is also survived by her ten beloved grandchildren: Joel, Story, Emily, Duke, Miles, Ethan, Nicholas, Edward, Maxwell, and Dagny. Jean was a strong supporter of public television and radio. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to local PBS or NPR stations.