Maria de los Angeles Dawson

Maria Dawson, beloved wife, mother, step-mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, mother-in-law, sister, aunt, mentor and friend passed away peacefully at age 83 on Tuesday, August 29, 2023. Known as Giggi to her kids and grandkids, Maria always had a vibrant and energetic smile, an eagerness to help others, and a creative way of tackling obstacles with a resilient and positive attitude. She found special joy in her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren and loved each of them deeply.

Maria was born on May 29, 1940 in San Juan Puerto Rico to parents Jose Ernesto Montilla and Maria Emilia Margenat Montilla. She spent her childhood with her sister Millie and brother Jose in San Juan and was partially raised by her grandparents. She received a B.S. Degree in Business from the University of Puerto Rico, where she played on the volleyball team and was captain of the debate team. She was a precocious learner, graduating college a year earlier than her peers. She was bilingual, equally proficient in English and Spanish.

Maria moved from Puerto Rico to Oklahoma, where she ran a children’s clothing boutique and also assisted international children teaching English as a second language at OSU. She received a certificate for teaching ESL from Brigham Young University.

Shortly after moving to Phoenix, Arizona she started a new chapter of her life and met William (Bill) Dawson, the love of her life, while working for Texscan, a cable television equipment provider. She originally was employed as an administrative assistant for the VP’s and quickly was promoted to Trade Show Manager. She was tenacious and creative and excelled in the largely male dominated cable equipment industry. Bill and Maria married on 12/11/1987 and lived in several cities over the years including Phoenix, El Paso, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City and Manlius, NY (a suburb of Syracuse). Maria retired from Texscan around 1992 but later joined the Cable TV Equipment Division of Phillips as their Trade Show Manager, retiring in 2002. BY 2005 she started working at Feats of Clay, a paint your own pottery studio, and eventually took over ownership in 2010.

Maria was very active in the Episcopal Church, most recently as a member of Christ Church in Manlius and serving on the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Central New York. Other organizations include Episcopal Church Women (ECW), Daughters of the King, and P.E.O. International. While living in Salt Lake City and Manlius she was on the vestry, the altar guild, the choir and served on search committees for pastors and bishops.

Maria was very community oriented, serving on multiple boards including the Ronald McDonald house in Salt Lake City and the Manlius “A Better Chance” (ABC) Program. For the ABC Program she acted as the academic advisor for several girls and especially enjoyed empowering young women while helping them build self confidence through a strong education. She was recognized by the Manlius Chamber of Commerce for her commitment to the community.

The community work she was most proud of was her participation in the Mission of Miracles, and for 15 years she participated as a translator for this important project which took a large group of professionals on an annual ten day medical mission to El Salvador focused on providing healthcare in remote villages.

In her spare time she truly enjoyed painting and was an avid artist with a specialization in folk art style. She also loved music, especially classical, jazz and show tunes. She and Bill attended Broadway shows whenever visiting NY. She had a wonderful sense of adventure and traveled quite extensively for work and pleasure visiting Canada, Mexico, England, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Puerto Rico, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. She was a die hard fan of Boston teams - Celtics, Red Sox and New England Patriots. A fact some may not know about Maria is that she adored Mickey Mouse and all of the Disney characters.

In early August of 2023 she moved with Bill to Seattle to be closer to family as her health was declining from a stroke suffered in May of 2017.

Maria was always the strongest advocate for her 3 children, Laureen, Suzanne and Blair.

Maria was beloved wife of Bill Dawson, mother of Laureen Raftes, Suzanne Varga (of blessed memory) and Blair Reyburn, step-mother of Christina Broadwin, Glenn Dawson (of blessed memory) and Kimberly Dawson and mother-in-law of Costa Raftes, Malyssa Reyburn, Elliot Broadwin and Michael Chidley, grandma/giggi of Spencer Raftes, Evan Raftes, Samantha Varga, Matt Broadwin, Cassandra Broadwin and Mitchell Broadwin, sister of Millie Ashby and Jose Montilla (of blessed memory), sister-in-law of Charlie Ashby and Gay Montilla, aunt of Damian Ashby, Karl Ashby, Fernando Ashby, Daniel Ashby, Derek “DJ” Montilla, Dax Montilla, Scott Montilla, great-grandma to Paxton Smyser and Isabella Reed, will be remembered with great love and affection. A celebration of life service will be held at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home in Seattle, WA on Saturday, October 21 at 1:30pm Pacific Standard Time (4:30pm Eastern Time). Individuals may attend in person or via a live webcast. If you are interested in attending in-person or virtually please RSVP at the event site at:

pp.events/marias-celebration-of-life

May her memory continue to be a blessing for all who knew and loved her. She will be forever missed.

In lieu of flowers, please send remembrances in Maria’s name to one or more of these organizations: 1) Mission of Miracles at 112 Tallmadge Road, North Syracuse, NY 13212; 2) Cristosal at PO Box 4424, Burlington, VT 05401-4424 or 3) Christ Church of Manlius, NY at 407 E Seneca Street, Manlius, NY 13104.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Evergreen-Washelli.com for the Dawson family.