Sharon L. Matteson

Of Middlesex Twp., formerly of Cuba, NY, died peacefully on Friday, December 1^st, 2023.  

Sharon was born January 15^th, 1940 in Warsaw, NY to Cecil Rodger Arzberger and Charles Arzberger during a snow storm.  Her family moved to Cuba to escape the polio epidemic where they owned & operated the Cuba Baking Company.

After graduating Salutatorian of the Cuba Central School Class of ’57, she received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Buffalo State.  In August of 1961 she married Bruce Matteson.  Sharon taught in her hometown for 33 years.  She enjoyed her coworkers, students, and monarch butterflies.  She loved her St. Bernards, Freya & Bruno, Lhasa Apsos, Genevieve & Bernie, and her Silky Terriers, Nellie and Arzie and could often be seen walking one of them in the village until her later years.

She and Bruce had long term friendships with their graduating class. They shared Thanksgiving with the Allis’ and Briggs’ as a long standing tradition.  She was a proud member of the Red Hat Society both in NY & SC and enjoyed doing crafts.  She was a model Chief’s wife for the Cuba Fire Department, hosting and traveling to conventions in the Poconos.

The Mattesons were travel enthusiasts.  They began with a pop-up trailer and expanded to a full motorhome for their travel in the United States.  Surfside Beach was a yearly destination and became their winter home for many years.  They traveled to Ireland three times and enjoyed a Caribbean cruise with their family and cruises to Alaska and the Panama Canal.  Trips to the Belleek factory in Ireland added to her extensive collection of beautiful things.

Sharon loved feeding people.  She always brought cookies and left them for mail carries on her porch along with a cooler of water.  She and her husband hosted lots of pool parties with her grands on East Main and attended all their school events and sports through college.    

 She is survived by her daughters, Marlene (Shawn) Doyle & Tammy (William) McElroy, her brother, Thomas (Debby) Arzberger, and five grandchildren, Emily (Thomas Corey) Zutz, John (Hannah Erwin) Doyle, Bruce (Cadi) Doyle, Joshua (Marissa) Foster & Frank Foster and three great grandchildren, Charles & Eliza Zutz and Henry Doyle.  Nine nieces & nephews, John (Kelly) Arzberger, Charlie (Samantha) Arzberger & Avriel (Arzberger) McGee, Kathy (Beard) Hayes, David Keefe, Denise (Keefe) Callihan, Karla (Keefe) VanFleet , Trent (Lena) Matteson, and Erin (Michael) Leet.   She was predeceased by daughters Torrie & Helen, her husband Bruce in 2020 and her sister Sandra (Robert) Beard.

Sharon was a lifetime member of the Cuba First Baptist Church and served as a religious ed teacher for many years.    A funeral service will be held Wednesday, December 6^th at 4pm at the church, followed by a Celebration of Life at The Palmer. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Cuba Circulating Library, 39 East Main Street, Cuba, NY 14727.