Obituaries Frances Boettcher
Frances Boettcher, a long-time Humboldt County artist, died in Lakeport, CA, on August 26, 2020. She was 83 years old. Born in Los Angeles in 1937, she liked to point out that she and the Golden Gate Bridge were the same age. Starting in the 1990s, she was active with the Arcata Artisans, the Fire Arts Center, North Coast Potter’s Guild, and the Ink People Center for the Arts and truly valued the friends she made and all that she learned and shared with them.
She moved to Kelseyville in 2017 to be closer to her eldest daughter, Ellen, as she couldn’t live on her own anymore. Prior to COVID-19, she enjoyed running errands and shopping at the Meals on Wheels and Hospice thrift stores in Lakeport with Cinnamon Ochoa-Rodrigues, her home healthcare aide who became a good friend.
Frances moved to Arcata in 1978 when Ellen started college at HSU. In her bio for the Arcata Artisans Frances wrote, “I’ve always been an artist. During high school I received scholarships to Art Center School of Design and Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts at Valencia). In 1958, 1960 and 1962, I had some minor interruptions and delays, but they grew up. In 1987 I discovered the bright colors in ceramics and by 1991 was selling large "Frances Bowls". Color is most important to me. I work towards an idea, learning and working, until I am satisfied. I’m always happy when an original idea takes me into a new place.”
She lived in Arcata for many years, moving to King Salmon in 1993, “below sea level, where the streets are named after fish: Cod, Sole, Perch, Crab, Halibut” as Linda Mitchell wrote in a 2003 North Coast Journal interview. She lived on Perch Street in a house that allowed her to watch boats and ships go in and out of the Humboldt Bay from a cupola with binoculars.
She is survived by her three children, Ellen (George), Anna, and Karl; her seven grandchildren, Luisa, Theo, Cory, and Sophie (and their mother, Cecilia), Jefferey, Matthew, and Abigail; her sisters, Victoria (Bruce) and Christine (Bob); numerous nieces, nephews and cousins who she held close in her heart; and her dear friends, M. Bob Benson and his children, Amber and Aaron; and Suzy Brady, an Arcata tenant. She is predeceased by her parents, Cecelia Rose and Joseph Hollis; her sisters, Carolyn (Chuck) and Joanne (Ted). The family is very grateful to the staff at Lakeport Post Acute who were very kind to Frances as they provided her with excellent care.
Frances would talk with anybody and was an unstoppable storyteller jumping from one decade to the next in a single sentence. In the 1980s she was an elevator operator at the Commercial Building in Eureka and always remembered the friends she made there. Over the years her oil paintings and ceramics were displayed at galleries and stores throughout Humboldt County. She also donated her work widely for all sorts of community fundraisers.
Death notices of 50 words or less are printed at no charge in the Record-Bee. They should be submitted along with the sender’s name, phone number and
mailing address to obits@record-bee.com.
Call Amy at 707-900-2010 for more information.
Some restrictions apply.