MARIA DE ECHEVARRIA Obituary

MARIA INES DE ECHEVARRIA (ZOCCOLA)
September 8, 1944 - April 30, 2025
Maria passed away peacefully at the Cavalry Hospital in New York City. She had undergone more than 16 months of treatment for pancreatic cancer. Before moving to Calvary, Maria received care at home from her family and Jansen Hospice, in Eastchester. She is survived by her husband Herkus (Lucky) Von Letkemann, daughter Maria Bernarda Echevarria and her partner, Eric Collins, stepdaughter Lucia Von Letkemann and her partner, Brett Whitmarsh, stepdaughter Elissa Von Letkemann, and many friends and loved ones.
Maria was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1969 she married Tomás de Echevarria. A short time later Tomás accepted a position at the United Nations, and they moved to New York. Eventually, Maria was also employed by the UN. She would go on to teach Spanish there for more than thirty years.
Maria and Tomás divorced, and Maria moved to the apartment on Garth Road in Scarsdale. In the 1990s she met Herkus Von Letkemann (nickname Lucky). They married and shared the Garth Road apartment. Both of them enjoyed travel, and besides trips to the western US, they went to Argentina, Italy, Russia, and the Czech Republic. Maria found peace through daily meditation.
In 1999, Maria purchased a home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For the next 20 years, Maria and Lucky divided their time between Scarsdale and Santa Fe, until COVID-19 arrived and they stayed mostly in New Mexico.
While she was a student in Argentina Maria excelled in art. This talent was neglected until1991 when she was on her summer vacation from her teaching. Her left hand had the urge to create page after page of evergreen trees. At the end of the summer, she was quite proficient. She drew forest scenes. She loved to experiment and started working on abstract subjects. She exhibited her work at the UN, and then the Argentine General Consulate in New York. She remodeled her apartment living room to be a very fine art studio. In her New Mexico home, she converted the two-car garage into a highly productive work space where she could paint 24 hours with perfect lighting. Eventually, Maria was represented by galleries in both Santa Fe and New York.
In the beginning of 2024, they moved back to Scarsdale full time, and enjoyed their first visit to Maria's family in Argentina since before the pandemic. Then cancer struck. Maria underwent a "Whipple" procedure, followed by chemotherapy. Unfortunately these were not successful.
Maria will be laid to rest in the cemetery at Sleepy Hollow. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her memory to Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF.