Maria Darlington

Maria Stockton Bullitt Darlington (Nov.6, 1932-Jul.14, 2026) took her last, gentle breath, in her home, with family by her side. She was 93.

Maria was born in Philadelphia, PA. To Jean Christian Bullitt and William Marshall Darlington, the youngest of six. She grew up on a dairy farm in West Chester, PA. where she discovered a love of horseback riding. Her godparents and in-laws were Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward.

Maria called Carrboro, NC home for over three decades.

The themes of her life were Peace and Social Justice. She embodied the phrase connected to Quakers and Mahatma Gandhi: Live Simply So Others Can Simply Live.

Maria was a traveler, photographer, activist, reader, and gardener. Her travels included the US, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, India, and Central America. She used her camera to document and share the lives she encountered. She was not a tourist. She was a participant, an advocate, and a curious student, ready to step up and get involved, especially to support the marginalized, the indigenous, and the tossed away.

Maria dedicated her last decades to helping incarcerated men through the Christian organization, Yokefellow Prison Ministry, to get them situated after release, with jobs and homes. She visited the prison sometimes every week to let the men there know somebody cared, and to give them hope. She made lasting friendships.

Maria was deeply involved in supporting the Zapatistas in Mexico, the indigenous people of Chiapas, squeezed out of livable space by the government. During the 1980’s and 90’s, she spent part of each year in Chiapas. She drove her pick up truck into the jungle to bring the Zapatistas supplies. She raised money for them by offering workshops around the US to sell their embroidery and educate the public of their plight.

Peace was Maria’s north star, protesting the Vietnam war and every war since. Even at age 90, she would join the protest for peace most weeks on a street corner in Chapel Hill.

Although she was baptized Catholic, Maria found her community with the Quakers, the path of her father’s ancestors. It was in the shared work of educating young men about their rights regarding the military, that Maria knew she found her people. She appreciated the Friend’s minimal religious dogma and their commitment to peace and tangible community support.

Maria was a social justice activist. She participated in countless protests and held hands around the Pentagon in 1985. She got involved in local politics and leaned on National leaders. Maria was at the Martin Luther King Jr march on Washington in 1963. She was a member of the NAACP and a close follower of the Rev Dr William Barber. She was a member of PFLAG and walked in Pride marches.

She always scanned for the person in the room overlooked or foreign, to connect with and invite in.

Maria married author, Wilfrid Sheed, in 1957, setting up home in New York City and then New Jersey. In 1971, with the dissolution of their union, she took her three young children to Europe for over a year, hitch hiking through Ireland for three months and eventually settling in a rustic yet opulent family friend’s home on Ibiza.

She taught by example, to live by your own rules and to follow your heart.

Art and music were always present in her life. She played the flute, worked in watercolors, and supported the arts as fundamental to a meaningful life.

Maria received her bachelors degree from Goddard College before her youngest finished high school in 1982. She got one belt away from Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do in her fifties. She was strongly independent and self sufficient.

Maria had a big organic garden whenever she could. She “recycled, reused, refused” instinctively, always. She didn’t preach, she just did what made sense to her, understanding the interdependence and mutual responsibility to care for all things.

What her children remember most is her unwavering love and support for them, no matter who or what they became. Follow your own rules.

Still living alone and driving at 90, a series of strokes and falls made independent living impossible. Her eldest daughter, Ici, came down from NYC and has been her live-in companion for the last 2 1/2 years. All three of her children had the gift of saying goodbye in-person. She died how she lived; gentle, humble, intentional, peaceful, grateful, and on her terms.

She donated her body to the UNC medical school, becoming a “silent teacher”.

Maria is survived by her children Ici Sheed, Frank Sheed, and Marion Tango Nelson. Her grandchildren include Luke Jones, Julia Sheed, Grace Sheed, and Jack Nelson.

A memorial and reception is scheduled for September 26, 2026, 2:00 pm, at the Chapel Hill Friends Meeting House. See service tab for more information.