Shaddon Ross

Shaddon Ross of Taos, New Mexico passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday, August 13th surrounded by family and love.

She was born to the late Wilma Ayer and Norman Hatch in Dexter, Maine on January 10th, 1939. Throughout her childhood in Dexter her grandfather “Daddy Bill” and grandmother “Gangee” were a great source of admiration and love. As a child Shaddon had a love of horses and the outdoors, exploring the bucolic woods, lakes and pastoral areas of central Maine.  Graduating from Cony High School in Augusta, Maine, Shaddon then went on to Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts where she studied interior design.

Throughout her life Shaddon found her work and professions weaving through aesthetics, design and beauty. With striking features and a pension for fashion, she found her way into modeling early on in her adult life. This exposure to fashion set the stage as an owner of a women’s clothing store with a focus on unique fabrics and bold designs. Later she moved on to aesthetics in spaces and environments as an interior designer, and later as an architectural and design collaborator on construction developments. Through it all she managed to still find time as a home maker, a gracious host and an example for her children, demonstrating a balanced professional and home life. A consummate host, one of her greatest joys was in bringing people together with frequent dinners, parties and celebrations for friends, strangers and family. Shaddon came to define, earlier than most, what it means to be a modern, liberated woman.

With a passion for travel and new experiences, Shaddon’s life found her residing in Rhode Island, Ohio, Maine, Colorado, Portugal, Wyoming and eventually her final home in New Mexico where her passions for the outdoors and the arts were able to be expressed most fully. Her travels also took her to Mexico, Scotland, the Caribbean, Germany, France, England and even Japan and Spain where she visited her sons. With an active and healthy lifestyle, she was able to pursue her interests into her final days with hikes and walks accompanied by her loyal, loving canine companion Nyota. Even at the spritely age of 80 she had a trip on deck planned to Costa Rica. Her love of animals, the outdoors, the arts and cooking were passed on to each of her four children, all outdoor enthusiasts with formidable skills in the kitchen. It comes as no surprise that each of her four children have pursued lives following these passions.  Her daughter has become a nationally recognized dog breeder, her eldest son an accomplished Mediterranean chef, her middle son with a career in the adventure travel industry and her youngest son an artist with a degree from Parsons School of Design in New York City.

Shaddon Ross is survived by her four children: Kim, Jeff, Christopher and Bryn. She is also survived by her long-time partner Ronnie, her sister Daphne and her two beautiful grandchildren, Diego and Mina. Two remembrance celebrations of her life with family and friends are to be held, one at her residence in Taos on August 17th and one in Maine with a date yet to be determined. Her ashes are to be scattered close to her childhood home in a wooded hilltop. For further inquiry or attendance please contact 207-319-9201.