Elizabeth Hoffman Dasch

Elizabeth Hoffman Dasch was born in Portland, January 23, 1912 to Lee Hawley Hoffman and Caroline Couch Burns Hoffman. She was the oldest of their four children: Elizabeth, Lee, Burns and Eric. The family home was at 19th and Flanders Street, in northwest Portland. Elizabeth (Liz) was interested in art at an early age and was encouraged by her grandmother, Julia C. Hoffman, founder of the Portland Arts and Craft Society which later became the Oregon College of Arts.

Her love of wildflowers, nature and gardening was shared and inspired by Rebecca Biddle Wood, mother of her school and lifelong friend Becks (Rebecca Wood Watkin). Rebecca Biddle Wood would later become her mother-in-law.

Beginning with kindergarten, Liz attended Miss Catlin's School.

She spent two years at the Westover School in Connecticut, but returned to graduate from Miss Catlin's.

She entered Smith College as a freshman in 1930 but left in her senior year, becoming engaged to Erskine Biddle Wood, who was attending Harvard Law School.

While at Smith, she became a roommate and lifelong friend of the renowned "French Chef," Julia McWilliams Child, who later became the godmother of her daughter Mardi.

During this time she created the botanical watercolor design of the Mt. Hood lily from which prints were used in the interior decoration of the Timberline Lodge WPA Project.

In 1935, she and Erskine married, and the couple lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

They returned to Portland where their daughter, Mardi was born in 1936, son Spencer in 1938, and son Erskine in 1942.

During the war years she took the children by train to Washington, D.C. where Wood was a lieutenant in the Navy.

The family lived in Bethesda, Silver Springs, and Annapolis in various homes made available to the military.

In the summer of 1945, the family drove by car back to Portland via Bear Lake, Idaho, and the Metolius River, camping much of the way and resuming the outdoor life of the Northwest.

Liz was a wonderful mother to her children, inspiring them to pursue their interests in arts and nature, skiing, fishing and camping in Oregon. On family camping trips, she taught them all how to sketch and paint the wildflowers of Central Oregon. The family home and garden on Hermosa Boulevard were featured in the House Beautiful magazine showing her garden design. Always a supporter of the Portland Art Museum, she served on a number of museum committees. She organized an enthusiastic Girl Scout troop for her daughter's class, and the girls worked diligently acquiring badges. Next, she organized Cub Scout troops for her sons and helped the boys pursue their interests.

In 1956 the couple separated and divorced. These were difficult years, but she found great support from friends Dr. Richard Steiner, then pastor of the Portland Unitarian Church, and his wife, Deborah. During these years Liz completed her college degree in art and education at Portland State University and thereby received her degree from Smith College which was very satisfying to her. The Steiners introduced her to Fredrick Dasch, and Liz and Fred were married in 1958.

Liz and Fred moved to Gig Harbor, Washington in 1963 where she began to establish herself as an artist. She became an accomplished enamel artist, painting and drawing in enamels on copper plate and firing them in her own kiln. At her Gig Harbor home, Liz again created a beautiful garden. She served on the board of the Tacoma Art Museum during its formative years. Fred's business travels took them to South America and Australia. Later, when Fred retired, they made extended trips to London to take in the plays and museums. They flew in their private airplane over much of the Northwest, photographing the scenery and visiting family and friends.

In 1973, Liz and Fred built one of the early houses at Black Butte Ranch, designed by her architect son, Erskine.

Here in Central Oregon, she had her most productive years in enamels and in designing unique pieces of enamel jewelry - numerous pieces were given to friends as well as being sold in galleries in Sisters, Eugene, and Tubac, Arizona.

Fred died in 1985.

Liz continued living in her Central Oregon home and spending winters in Green Valley, Arizona.

In these years she had a wonderful friendship with Frank Marsh, a retired McMinnville attorney, recently a widower, who she met at Black Butte Ranch and who also had a home in Green Valley.

Frank had a variety of interests which she shared.

Together they loved the wildflower hike at Iron Mountain in the Cascades west of Sisters.

He enthusiastically welcomed and participated in all the children and grandchildren's events of both her and his families.

Liz concentrated on silver jewelry and semi-precious beads, and worked them in with the enamel pieces she continued to create. Concerned over the safety of kiln firing, she turned her attention to wire-wound jewelry creations with semi-precious stones and exotic beads.

In 2001, she decided to move from her Black Butte Ranch home to a condominium in Sisters.

There she had a magnificent view of Mt. Washington and the Sisters, and the sunsets over the Cascades.

Her many dear friends, her children and their spouses, 9 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren had many wonderful visits with her there.

Her memory began to decline about 8 years ago, but she always maintained her gracious and charming way.

Her life in her Sisters home was kept lively and interesting with the help of her devoted caregiver for 8 years, Joyce Rayburn, to whom the family is most grateful.

Until this year she was walking into town and she took a great interest in all her family and friends.

The kind attention of all of her caregivers is greatly appreciated. Toward the end of her life, Kathy Shaw and the nurses from Redmond Hospice helped her gracefully through this time. A remarkable event happened the morning of her death. A group of mountain bluebirds, nuthatches and finches all landed and splashed and bathed together in the birdbath just outside her window - saying goodbye to a gracious lady and friend of nature. She passed away in her home, with her family at her bedside, on September 10, at the age of 97-and-a-half, having lived a long and interesting life.

She is survived by her brothers, Eric Hoffman of Portland and Burns Hoffman of Santa Barbara; her daughter, Mardi Wood of Bolinas, California; her sons, Spencer Wood and his wife Layle of Boise, Idaho, and Erskine Wood and his wife Sandy of Vancouver, Washington.

A memorial gathering of all those who loved and cared for Liz is planned for 1:00 PM, on Sunday, October 11, at the Big Meadow Restaurant, Black Butte Ranch, Oregon.

Friends are invited to simply pause and enjoy their memories of Liz. Memorial gifts may be sent to: Sisters Public Art, c/o City of Sisters, PO Box 39, Sisters, Oregon 97759 (memo: Dasch Memorial) or to the Oregon College of Arts, 8245 SW Barnes Road, Portland, Oregon 97225.