An Obituary for Elizabeth A. Durie

Thoughts on Liz's Life

Born at the hospital her mother trained in as nurse midwife, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the new born Liz traveled three days by train to Zambia where she lived her pre-teens before the family moved to farming in the Wedza District of Zimbabwe. We have one of her watercolor paintings of African Grasses on our lounge wall.

Liz met her future husband, Barry, while both were studying at Rhodes University, South Africa. The first year of married life was in a little town in what was then the Transkei, in very rural South Africa. Horses down the main road at midnight, rural! Within a year they moved to the US for study. In preparation, Liz took typing courses and worked at the Drew University NJ, media dept making some creative use of her fine arts and teaching degrees.

Pregnant with their first born, Craig, they moved to Duke University, NC, where Liz worked in the medical library. She always managed to think and plan ahead as she and Barry made major decisions around settling in the US and building life and career together. Learning curves in a new country were always interesting challenges and Liz had a creative sense of humor that rose to every challenge. She was also a rather good planner.

Barry's career brought them back north where they finally settled in Bethlehem PA, and raised their three sons, adding Andrew and Alistair. Liz used community art days and Artist in Residence, to make her presence felt and to launch her credentialing as Art Teacher. Her work has appeared on magazine covers, private homes and the walls of at least one local hospital network. Art in the Park in Bethlehem's Rose Garden opened the door to being hired at Nitchman Middle School in its Art Dept. where she taught Art and Gifted for twenty years.

Always intensely curious about most everything, despite frequent travels to South Africa to care for her mother, Liz managed to raise three remarkable sons, watch all their sports and guide them into productive careers. She was always the seat of wisdom in the family. Welcoming three really spectacular daughters-in-law, Danielle, Hope and Kelly, just added to the happy bedlam wherever they gathered. She has absolutely doted on the grandchildren, Michaela, Brenna, Brayden and Anderson and sought to share her love of sewing, quilting, reading and gardening. She loved all four of those 'kids' and welcomed the latest wee boy Niall, with the same enthusiasm when he arrived in May.

Her love of quilting, triggered by dear church friends and in particular her delight in English Paper Piecing, has resulted in her creative blend of colors, designs and skill in her many quilts. She also coerced Barry into learning to quilt, admonishing him to 'keep it simple' as she launched into really complex designs. Quilting will be a comforting reminder of Liz in the years ahead. Liz has been a lifetime avid gardener and collector of books on just about anything.

Liz died August 13th just a week after her 76th birthday. Despite the sadness and loss, there is so much to celebrate about a life so well lived and so fully embraced.