Maria Shuck is running for a council seat on the All In For Rye ticket.

Maria grew up in a town in northern Sweden which was (and still is) the location for a large paper and pulp company. Maria’s father was a surgeon and her mother a dentist, and she has two younger sisters. Hockey was the most popular sport in town, and one of her grade school classmates (Mats Näslund) went on to play in the NHL. Maria became a competitive swimmer, but her passion was skiing, and she became a qualified ski instructor in high school.

Maria started medical school after having worked as a nurse’s aide during the summers and school vacations. But after several semesters of medical school, she enrolled in law school and never looked back. She completed her Swedish law degree and a US law degree (at Harvard). After clerking for a court in Stockholm, she quickly became a partner in the largest Swedish law firm. There she worked on a variety of large corporate transactions, including global corporate reorganizations for Swedish multinationals. She also served as outside general counsel for large Swedish companies, often working with leading US law firms. Now retired, Maria led the New York office of her firm for 25 years and is admitted to the bar in both Sweden and New York.

For the last 32 years, Maria and her husband John have made their home on Brown Avenue in Rye. Although Maria and John were told initially that their house was not walking distance to the station, Maria made it walking distance.

Maria and John have raised their two sons, John and Carl, and involved themselves in the community. Their sons were both baptized and confirmed at Rye Presbyterian Church, where John has been involved in the church boards. Maria and John were both involved in their kids’ sports teams, including the Rye Little League, Rye Babe Ruth League, Rye Rangers Hockey, and Rye Country Day Squash. They are long-time members of Apawamis and Manursing.

Maria became increasingly interested in Rye City Council matters when her neighborhood went through significant construction projects and she worked to support Bill Henderson on the current Rock Chipping Law. 

Maria has been the Board Chair of Lund University Foundation, The Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, and several professional committees. She is known by her colleagues on those boards as a stickler for budget detail and for getting things done.

Maria is running for City Council because she wants to give back and because she believes that her background, professional experience, and energy enables her to make meaningful contributions to the City Council for the next four years. 

Maria is All in for Rye.