Sydne Matus Obituary (1948

CUSHING - Sydne Matus, 63, died Monday, Septermber 12th in the presence of her family at her home. Born in Brooklyn, New York, March 21st, 1948, she grew up there attending local schools where she graduated from James Madison High School and then went on to SUNY-Stony Brook where she obtained a Bachelor's degree in Psychology.She then attended the University of Iowa in the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology where she obtained her Master's degree before returning to New York when her mother had a stroke.She began a career in Publishing and worked for many years at a variety of publications including Gourmet, Popular Photography and The Nation.She married her husband Robert Matus in Woodland Hills, California, on July 9th, 1983 and in 1986 they moved to Cushing with their new-born daughter Esther.Sydne continued to work in publishing as a freelance editor specializing in craft books from her home in Cushing until the industry slowed down at which point she began a new career as a Licensed Social Worker. For 7 years she was the Coordinator of the Breakwater Homeless Teen Shelter in Rockland until it closed. She said the experience changed her forever and even after the Shelter closed she continued contact with many of the youths she had met there.She then obtained her license as a Substance Abuse Counselor and worked at the Turning Tide Methadone Clinic for 2 years until it closed. Shortly thereafter she was licensed to do private drug counseling and had several clients she worked with until her battle with cancer made it impossible to continue.She loved doing crafts such as knitting and crocheting and was always working on a baby blanket to give as a gift to friends and relatives. She loved to read and sit on her deck swing looking out at the St George River.Throughout her 4 year battle with cancer she kept a positive attitude and lived her life fully, refusing to let the disease deter her from enjoying her family and friends as well as traveling to southern California and Sedona, Arizona several times.She is survived by her husband Bob of Cushing, her daughter Esther of San Diego, CA, her brother Jay and his family of Brooklyn, New York as well as her uncles and aunts and numerous cousins in southern California.A funeral service was held Tuesday, September 13, 2011, at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland. Burial followed at Berliawsky - Small Cemetery in Rockland.To share a memory or story with Sydne's family, please visit her online guestbook at www.bchfh.com.