{Artwork by Mary Lou Goertzen.}
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There is a kind woman in our community named Mary Lou that Jeff and I have known for years. The first time I met Mary Lou I noticed her warm smile and a carved wooden peace sign she wore around her neck. She seemed to emanate a certain peacefulness and though I had just met her, I already thought her necklace suited her quite well. Since that day, we would sometimes see her at a the tiny farmer’s market in Deadwood selling her artwork with her daughter Anya or at the Eugene Saturday Market, when we both had booths set up that day. Though there is actually a bit of distance between our homes, we felt a kinship living around the same “neck of the woods” and would chat about life along our backwoods highway. I loved Mary Lou’s spirit and her gentle way of being.
Recently Mary Lou called us and said she had made a quilt for Bracken and invited us over, so Bracken and I went over to her house for the first time. She lives in an old schoolhouse and I thought it was so neat! We sat and chatted near the warmth of her woodstove and she asked if I would like to sing with her. We sang “This Little Light Of Mine” together. We both love to sing and I thought it was so great to go over to someone’s house and have them ask you if you’d like to sing with them.
I asked Mary Lou if I could interview her for my blog, saying I’d love to learn more about her life (and thought many of you would too.) I thought it would be challenging to write down her answers while trying to keep an eye on Bracken (he would have gladly taken every book off every shelf in her house), so I wrote her a list of questions and mailed them to her not long after our visit. It wasn’t long after I got an envelope in the mail that said: Blue Schoolhouse for the address (the locals know where to deliver it) and had this note:
“Dear Taryn,
This was a good process for me. It will be fun to talk to you about it to get your input too! And the Thank You card was so lovely! Glad Bracken is enjoying his quilt!
Love,
Mary Lou”
Then there was a handwritten response to my questions. This is what she wrote:
“I’m a Kansas girl born in 1929, the first child of young parents. Mom was 23 and Dad was 21. A brother joined the family when I was two and a sister two years after that. In 1939 my youngest sister was born. I enjoyed being the oldest and also being one of the “campus kids” since we lived on a small Mennonite College Campus where my dad was a money raiser.
When I was in 2nd grade we lived in New York City where my dad went to Columbia University to get a master’s degree in education and I went to Horace Mann, a progressive school open to children of Columbia University students. Teachers at Horace Mann told my parents they should always keep me supplied with art materials since I had gifts in that area.
Some years ago at a Quaker women’s retreat someone came up with the idea to write our autobiographies in tens words or less. I came up with, “Beginning in love, with work and play the same thing.” With three children I’ve enjoyed being busy with domestic chores as well as making things. I think of life as a process of learning and sharing our gifts. I feel blessed that my husband, Ernie and I, were able to share our gifts together for 53 years before he died in July 2004. We were able to make a living since 1969 with our artwork.
I grew up during the 2nd World War and my parents were peace activists. Today’s world is just as hard and full of paradox.
Staying in touch with one’s heart is very necessary as well as being open and non-judgmental.
My hopes for the world is that more and more people will realize that as human beings on this planet we are all fragile and as long as we are alive the way to live is to find ways to make peace with our enemies without killing.
We need to live simpler. We are too serious and need to be able to laugh at ourselves. Easier said than done!
Mary Lou Goertzen
February 2013
Deadwood, Oregon 97430″
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I enjoyed reading what Mary Lou had to say so much.
When getting this post together, I realized I hadn’t taken a picture of her for this post (you can see one here), but I had a postcard with her artwork on it that she had given me years ago that I had kept in my art space. Bracken had recently spilled some water on it and it started curling up around the edges, but it shows her beautiful artwork. I love the simplicity of her lines and her blend of areas with color next to areas with black and white.
I looked up her name to see if I could find a picture of her to link to (which I did above) and found her here on Wikipedia. This is what it says:
“Mary Lou Goertzen (born 1929) is an American artist, peace activist and Mennonite.
Mary Lou and her late husband Ernie (1926–2004) are the subjects of the documentary Kind, True and Necessary (2006) by James Knight. The film documents their life of art, Christian pacifism and simple living. Ernie was a conscientious objector and, like his wife, an artist and Mennonite. They lived in an old schoolhouse in Deadwood, Oregon from 1975.”
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Our family just watched the documentary about Mary Lou and Ernie. You can watch it here on Vimeo (we had to sign up to watch the entire video, but it doesn’t cost anything.) I highly recommend watching it! You might need a box of tissues, I found it so touching I teared up quite a few times. I never had the pleasure of meeting Ernie, he passed away before I moved to Oregon, but I loved getting to know him from the documentary. Mary Lou and Ernie are two wonderful people and while watching them on the film I found them so inspirational and heartwarming.
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What a lovely interview and what a small world we live in. I recently bought a country house (to live more simply – coming from Los Angeles) and left in the house was an original painting by Mary Lou Goertzen. I looked up her name and began reading everything I could find about her. I find her words so inspiring and poignant. Google eventually lead me here – a blog/Etsy maker I’ve enjoyed for years…and you are neighbors!
Amber- yes, what a small world! Thank you for sharing that story with me. Have you reached out to Mary Lou? I know she enjoys pen pals very much!!