Painter Elizabeth Webber leaves a legacy of faith, courage and art

Art was her life’s work, but Elizabeth Webber left a legacy far beyond the whimsical paintings she created. That greater legacy is one of perseverance, kindness and courage through terrible adversity.

“I knew her as an artist, one of the Webber kids, my aunt, and the strongest person I will ever know,” Rachel Webber said at her aunt’s funeral Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Everett.

Elizabeth Ann Webber died Aug. 23 after suffering for most of her adult life with crippling rheumatoid arthritis. She was 65.

In unrelenting pain, for years in a wheelchair and unable to walk, and despite prosthetic joints and many surgeries, she continued to create magical works of art. And in her large and loving family, she was the one who never forgot a birthday, an anniversary or a special gift for someone.

The Everett woman was the eldest of 10 children, the daughter of the late Bernie Webber and his wife, Joy. Bernie Webber, a well-known watercolor painter and illustrator, died in 2006 at age 83. Her great-uncle was Arne Jensen, another noted regional artist.

While her father realistically captured places and people of the Northwest, Elizabeth Webber’s work is fanciful. She was known for her holiday artwork, especially her Halloween and Christmas images.

Webber is survived by her mother and nine siblings: sisters Barbara Bly, Patricia Chadwick and Katherine Hawthorne, and brothers Tom, John, Chris, Greg, Stephen and Rich Webber. She also had many nieces and nephews.

“Everything she touched had a kind of whimsical, imaginative approach. There were a lot of little scenes — little mice, snails, dragonflies, gardens and nature,” Bly said. “She and I shared a room when we were young. She would make up stories at night, little dream worlds, especially at Christmastime. She was like that. Her house was like that. She was magical.”

A 1968 graduate of Everett High School, Webber started college at Marylhurst University in Oregon. By 19, she had been stricken with the autoimmune disease that would severely limit her mobility.

Back in Everett, she worked for a time in the 1970s as an illustrator at the Everett Public Library, and as a watercolor instructor for the Everett Parks Department.

Determined to complete her education, she graduated in 1989 from Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, with a focus on fine arts and costume design. Her expertise in costumes showed in a series of paintings with Shakespeare themes.

In 2003, an Everett High history class was given an assignment to interview graduates of their school working in the arts. Tim O’Donnell was among the students whose articles were compiled in a publication, “For the Love of the Arts,”

O’Donnell’s father, Everett historian Jack O’Donnell, remembers his son working on that assignment. “Tim luckily drew Elizabeth Webber. When Tim returned from interviewing her, he said she was the nicest person he’d ever met,” Jack O’Donnell said.

In Tim’s article, Webber is quoted as saying: “God’s given me this talent. My greatest joy is to use it. … My faith gave me a purpose for my suffering. It helped me realize I had to go on, to keep trying.”

Bly described her sister as “a living example of Christ on the cross.”

“Her suffering gave strength to other people. She really lived for other people,” Bly said.

Webber kept painting after a devastating loss in 2005. That’s when most of her largest works were stolen.

An exhibit of her work had been on display in the Everett library’s coffee shop. The paintings had been taken down and were in the care of a woman who curated the exhibit. The car, parked at the Everett Station, was stolen and eventually recovered. Webber’s watercolor, oil and oil pastel paintings — 12 large works and more than 30 smaller pieces — have never been found.

“These were pieces of my legacy,” Webber said in a 2005 Herald article after the theft. “I had willed a lot of these pieces to my nieces and nephews. I’ll never be able to reproduce them, to physically paint like that again.”

Judy Matheson, who owns J. Matheson Gifts in Everett, said Webber displayed and sold her Halloween and Christmas paintings at annual shows at the downtown shop. Even in her last weeks at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, Webber was still planning a Halloween display, Matheson said.

“She was a very dear friend,” she said. “There has never been a more generous person. She’s our angel.”

At their aunt’s funeral, several nieces spoke of Webber’s larger legacy. They love her paintings, but it is her spirit that for them lives on.

Rebecca Shannon said her aunt embraced life as a precious gift. “Auntie Liz has always been magic. And she truly fought for every minute of her life,” said Madeline Chadwick, another niece.

Niece Erin Webber said her aunt never put herself first. “If you were sick, she was the first to send a card,” she said.

“We wanted a miracle for Auntie Liz,” Erin Webber said. “She was a miracle.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.