Mary Elizabeth Lambert
Mary Elizabeth Lambert, beloved mother, grandmother, attorney, and lifelong lover of animals, passed away peacefully in Santa Barbara on April 12, 2026, at the age of 84.
Born in Los Angeles, California, to Emerson and Presentación McWilliams, Mary was raised in the small town of Cayucos, California, and graduated from the even smaller Coast Union High School in Cambria, California, in 1959.
She was one of the few students from this area to continue her education and attended the University of California, Berkeley. She received her degree in Art History in 1963, thus beginning a life defined not by a single path, but by curiosity and resilience. Her curiosity often manifested in taking unexplored backroads and, although she was never one for airplanes, she often recounted an adventurous trip with her father on a lemon freighter that sailed through the Panama Canal.
After college, Mary moved to Santa Barbara, where she worked for the Probation Department for several years before meeting Dr. Richard Lambert. Following a whirlwind courtship, they married in 1969 and began building a life and family together. Their early years were marked by both joy and adversity.
In 1971, they fled the Romero Canyon Fire with a baby, their pets, and the clothes on their backs while Mary was pregnant with her second daughter. The fire destroyed their home and all they owned. In its aftermath, she helped coordinate rebuilding efforts, all while the growing family lived for several years in a cramped double-wide trailer in the ashes of the prior house. Despite, or possibly because of, that experience, she was bonded to the “ranch” for the rest of her life. Embracing this new home and journey, she took on many projects, which included a small menagerie of ducks, chickens, geese, dogs, and cats. She would go on to be an avocado and kiwi farmer, avid gardener, and even a winemaker. She planted, tended, and harvested oranges, lemons, persimmons, and rhubarb. Stray animals knew Mary was a safe bet, and the ranch became home for many a lost dog, cat, injured deer mouse, and even a few chickens and a wayward lovebird. When Mary thought local schools were not challenging enough for her children, she chose to get her teaching credential and then homeschooled them for several years. In her early forties, Mary decided to challenge herself by embarking on an entirely new chapter and chose to attend law school. She earned her J.D. cum laude as part of the Class of 1987 from the Santa Barbara College of Law and passed the California Bar exam on her first attempt. She built a well-respected legal career specializing in estate planning, probate, trust administration, guardianships, and conservatorships.
In addition to her career and busy home life, she volunteered on the Board of Directors for Laguna Cottages for Seniors and supported numerous causes and organizations, including Santa Barbara Community Clinics, the Nature Conservancy, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Mary deeply loved the wild birds and animals that shared the ranch, including bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and bobcats. She believed strongly in preserving their natural habitats, which included keeping her land hospitable and welcoming for all creatures that visited. She loved that the trail cams showed bears eating her persimmons and mountain lions walking by the front door, and despite their presence, she was never scared to take her long walks up the driveway. She firmly believed that if a mountain lion got her, that was how she was meant to go. As much as she loved the wildlife and her independence, she detested smartphones, iPads, and automatic cars, and she stubbornly drove her sporty stick-shift up to the end.
Even as she was slowing down, Mary found great joy in family visits, watching trail-cam videos of visiting critters, and feeding hordes of hummingbirds and orioles. She also loved teaching her grandchildren family recipes, gopher trapping, and even the occasional swear word.
Mary’s legacy will live on in the family she steadfastly protected and the wisdom, resilience, and curiosity she inspired in those she loved. Her love, intellect, and indomitable spirit remain woven into the lives of all who knew her, and in the birds still singing outside.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Richard Lambert, and by her stepdaughter, Cynthia Lambert. She is survived by her daughters, Sarah Lambert and Jeanne Lambert; her stepson, Christopher Lambert; her grandchildren, Robbie and Marie; extended family; dear friends; and the many animals whose lives were better because of her care.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Mary’s name to the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network.
