Louise Beury

Lu Beury passed away peacefully on Thursday, December 22, 2016, in Orinda, CA, with her immediate family by her side. She was fortunate to spend many happy years with family and friends after her original breast cancer diagnosis in 2005. As Lu would say, she had a "great life" during her 81 years.

Lu was born Louise Margaret Maier on March 10, 1935, in Gibsonia, PA, to German immigrants Louise Rose Hofer from Freudenstadt and George Maier from Holzhausen. She was the third of six children, including Walter, Anne Marie, George, Helen, and Richard. Louise - known as "Lu" by friends and "Schatzi" (sweetheart) by family - graduated from Hampton High School in 1953 and from Penn State University in 1957, where she earned a bachelor's degree in art education. At Penn State, Lu met her former husband Harold "Bud" Beury, a classmate and naval officer cadet from Shamokin, PA. After graduation, they married and moved west to Naval Air Base Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, WA. In 1961, their twins Kimberly and Keith were born. In 1963, they set off for California and new careers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The family settled in the then-sleepy suburb Orinda, buying a house that to this day is remembered for the many parties hosted there with family and friends of all ages.

Lu enjoyed two 20-year careers, first as a California public school art teacher in Oakland and San Francisco and then as a pharmaceutical sales representative. She retired in 2000 to devote time to painting--her passion since elementary school.

Lu was an accomplished artist whose paintings were shown in numerous juried and invitational exhibitions and galleries and are included in corporate and private collections throughout California. She was represented by Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA, where her last painting - "Breaking the Glass Ceiling," commemorating Hillary Clinton - was on exhibit through her final days. In the early 1970s Lu studied with such Bay Area local artists as Lundy Siegrist, Harry Krell, and Peter Blos. Her most recent work can be viewed at www.lubeuryartist.com .

Lu's love of art was a driving force her entire life, not only as a painter and traveler, but as a teacher. She loved sharing her passion for art and getting people excited about creating it. Many long-time Lamorindans may remember the Barbeury Art Studio, which she co-founded to teach various art techniques to adults and children. Lu had many lifelong interests, including traveling to all kinds of destinations. She loved to experience different cultures, visit every gallery in a destined city from dawn to dusk (often with her daughter), paint plein air scenes with artist friends... Her love of Paris and France resulted in many extended visits. A voracious reader of non-fiction, she always had interesting new insights and learnings to discuss. She read her favorite book, Tolstoy's War and Peace, several times throughout her life. She said the book had a different striking, poignant impact on her each time she read it. Lu loved to dance and socialize - especially at Perry's in San Francisco and then the now-closed Petar's in Lafayette. An avid Democrat and feminist, Lu could debate and discuss politics for hours at a time.

Grandsons Wade, 13, and Carson, 11, were two of "Nonie's" greatest of joys in life. In recent years, Lu routinely enjoyed afternoons with the boys after picking them up from school. Some of her happiest moments were spent with her grandsons painting landscapes on the hills of Orinda or involved in any of a number of artistic endeavors. Lu was full of delight when they shared their works of art and accurately described paintings as "abstract" or "plein air."

In her last months, Lu talked often about the wonderful, full and active life she had led, always surrounded by her beloved family and many friends.

Lu is survived by her children Kim and Keith, daughter-in-law Kris, and grandsons Wade and Carson in Orinda; brothers George and Richard Maier, sister-in-law Anita Sinicrope-Maier, nephews Greg and George Maier and cousin Marti Hofer in the Pittsburgh, PA, area and nephew Greg Poe in South Carolina.

A celebration of Lu's life and artwork will be held at Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA, Sunday, March 12, from 1PM to 4PM.
To support breast cancer research, memorials may be given to: Rugo Breast Cancer Research Fund, c/o Dr. Hope Rugo, UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1600 Divisadero St., Box 1720, San Francisco, CA 94115.

Always in our hearts, living on in our memories, through her art and in all the people who love her...We miss her so much already, but we know she is still loving us, painting, dancing, debating politics, and standing up for women's rights somewhere. All our love to you Mom, Nonie, Lu ...