Laura Davidheiser took flight on February 17, 2011 leaving this world more beautiful than she found it on the day of her birth to Betty and Don Olson in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on February 21, 1961. She would say that her greatest accomplishment was her marriage of 25 years to her true love, Roger Davidheiser, and the way that they raised their two amazing sons, Eric (20) and Gregor (18). Her hundreds of friends and admirers would agree, but would testify to so much more of what her life and legacy meant.
Laura grew up in Seattle, Washington where she attended Forest Ridge Sacred Heart, graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1979. She attended Skidmore College and graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Art History in 1983. From the moment she could hold a pencil, Laura began making the world more beautiful with her artwork. She had a way of seeing beauty in the world and people around her that often escaped others. These talents are reflected in the path of her life’s work. From a volunteer with Amigos de las Americas to her first jobs as a candy striper at Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, a coordinator at University Hospital, lab assistant at Puget Sound Blood Center and as an art instructor for the United Cerebral Palsy Center, Laura proved herself to possess the rare combination of being a highly compassionate person who got the job at hand done while exhibiting grace under pressure.
In the mid-1980’s she worked for the Congressional Arts Caucus, served on Senator John D. Rockefeller’s staff, and oversaw a staff of 200 as Radiothon Manager of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She organized grant outreach for the Citizens Committee for New York City and served as Administrative Assistant at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. When Roger’s career brought her back west to Seattle, Laura served as Administrator for the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and Managing Director of the Northwest Girlchoir from 1989 to 1995, retiring from a job that she loved due to the physical limitations imposed by her terminal illness, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
On July 12, 1998, Laura received a lung transplant at the University of Washington Medical Center, a date that she celebrated with friends and family each subsequent year as her Rebirth Day. Upon her “rebirth” Laura channeled her energy toward raising her two boys and further exploring her art as a student of the printmaking program at Pratt School of Art and a member of Quartermaster Press on Vashon Island. She also served on the Vashon Allied Arts Board of Directors. Laura’s monoprints became a vehicle to tell the world about her transformation received through the gift of her lung transplant.
Her fearlessness as an artist pushed the limits of the printmaking process and quickly caught the eye of the art community. A common theme throughout her work was flight–from a woman who takes flight with butterfly wings to birds of all kinds, in particular crows, ravens and blackbirds. Her paintings exude hope, joy, faith and love through joyful scenes painted in brilliant yellows, blues, and reds. On three separate occasions, her work was selected from hundreds of applicants to appear in the international juried exhibition, “Birds in Art”, at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. Laura’s artwork was selected for numerous other international, regional, and select juried exhibitions throughout the United States. Her commissioned work hangs in Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington, and Franciscan Hospice in University Place, Washington.
Laura made a conscious decision to step away from her artwork to focus on the art of raising her boys. She threw herself into supporting their development and passions, the greatest being the game of lacrosse. Laura, along with her husband Roger, fully immersed herself into the Vashon Island Lacrosse Club, devoting hundreds of hours to grow the club into a thriving, renown program. Driving to games, cooking and hosting team dinners, running fundraisers, managing and ordering gear, organizing the cook shack and the list goes on. She was the club’s greatest and most prolific fan. She was so proud of her boys: Eric, who plays on a lacrosse scholarship at Penn State, and Gregor, who plays at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
In addition to her boys and husband, Laura put great energy into her friendships. She had friends from all walks of life, often creating connections between them. She took great interest in their lives, always more interested in learning about their world than talking about her own. She never complained of her illness and never used it as an excuse to shy away from responsibilities and commitments to others. In particular, her Vashon P.E.O. sisters held a special place in her heart.
Upon her flight, Laura would want you to know that we are so much more than our bodies, that we are everything else…spirit, soul, heart, water, earth, wind, stars, sun, planets and heaven. That there is vast beauty and freedom to be found beyond the restraints of our bodies. She is free, she is at peace, she is flying.
Laura is survived by her husband Roger Davidheiser and sons Eric and Gregor of Vashon Island, Washington. Her mother and father, Don and Betty Olson, of Vashon Island. Her sister Lucy Gilmore and her husband Mark and nephews Keegan and Kyle of Brewster, Massachusetts. Her youngest sister Mary Kay Rauma and her husband David and nephew Jeff and niece Genevieve of Vashon Island.
Laura’s Celebration of Life will take place at the Vashon United Methodist Church on March 10th at 2 pm. Remembrances may be made “In Memory of Laura Davidheiser” to further the research of Neuromyelitis Optica through The Guthy-Jackson Research Foundation at www.guthy-jacksonfoundation.com or in Laura’s name to
Vashon Allied Arts at www.vashonalliedarts.org.
What we call the beginning is often the end. To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.
T.S. Eliot
Paid Obituary.
