In Memory of Virginia Bleck

Virginia Bleck b.1929 December 22 d. 2012 August 21, 2012.

  Yesterday we would have celebrated my mother’s 83^rd birthday on earth.  To say the least Virginia Bleck was quite prolific and left a wonderful legacy.  Her legacy included nine children, over 3000 trees planted from seedlings, two artistic careers, one as a interior architect and the other as an illustrator, and lastly a philosopher and passion for documenting other philosophers.

  Virginia was born during the depression, raised during WWII, went to high school post war, married and had her first child while my father was deployed to Paris for the Korean war, raised 9 children through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, enjoyed a booming career in the 90’s.  She had experienced so many historical changes in her lifetime.

  She made everyone she met feel a special relationship building with her, and she believed that life is all part of God’s grand plan, so her attitude was to embrace it and make those around you enjoy life and be better people. Our Dad says my mother always lit up the room. On a trip to Germany they went to a beer hall, and immediately she was swept onto the dance floor by a polka crazed joyous German. “Ver you been all my life!” he said.  She was so often the life of the party; God gave her a special role to make everyone happy!

  Many ask me how did so much talent come from one family. I suppose genetically it existed naturally.  But she nurtured each of her nine children’s individual talents.  I remember my mom saying to someone that she never encouraged any of us to pursue the arts, however I think contrary to her belief she did so passively.  What she did instill most importantly was creativity.  When you said, ”I don’t know how to do this”, you often would hear the response,“ I am sure there is way and I think you should try to figure it out”.  If the task at hand was difficult and you did try she would jump in and show you.  You just needed to be patient, as eight other siblings needed her too.

 A thousand times we heard the idle mind is the devil’s workshop.  Work was a joyous activity to be embraced with enthusiasm.  There is no such thing as boredom.  If you have nothing to do, grab a broom and sweep or get going on a project.  Art supplies filled shelves, benches were filled with models, science projects were in pursuit, and sewing projects were plenty.  My sisters had bolts of cloth, a ready sewing machine, and she never seemed to mind the mess.  My brothers too had their

own creative projects with boat building and model plane construction to top the list.

  Virginia never grew tired of teaching the young.  I remember last fall in the depths of her pain she rallied to show my nephew of four an old biology display poster from the 1940’s. “He’s a natural reader’, she said to me as I watched her enthusiastically teach him the proper pronunciation of biological terms. She always thought children should be treated as people.  It was of no service to them to baby them.

  Mom never took her job lightly as a mother, to her it was profession, but in her late 40’s as my youngest brothers were in middle school she began her career as a freelance illustrator.  She started creating a style of mice in dresses depicting everyday life.  This had grown out of a funfair activity for the Catholic school we attended. Her orders topped her expectations, and of course she fulfilled every one of them.   My sister Cathie had worked at the Chicago Tribune as the first staff freelance illustrator, and Cathie gave mom some tips about showing her work to bigger clients. She put together a portfolio and contacted Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, MO.  They were enthused and sent her the guidelines of submission. Every month she would gather her illustration ideas and submit with a tag line or literary expression.  For the next twenty years she wrote and illustrated hundreds of cards.  She not only created this part of her career, but created fine art as well and sold to many galleries including Merrill Chase in Water Tower Place.  Imagine a Virginia Bleck mouse painting next to Leroy Neman.

A fond memory of my teen years was a chance to accompany her to Hallmark on a business trip. I tagged along and got to sit with her at an art director’s lunch, tour the studios, and take my very first plane ride. This made quite an impression. At an age where you are tempted to get into things she took the opportunity to show me what else was out there waiting for me in the world. It was so exciting. I remember her saying to me, ” You see there is so much more to life than all that monkey business your friends are getting into.” She was right and it was at that point I decided to pursue a career in the arts.

   After my mom passed this summer, my sisters and I started a process of cataloging and collecting all of her works this fall. It was clear after a week this task would not be finished. Every drawer, closet, stored box has original works. 

  You would think with her artistic endeavors that she would have no time for anything else, but she did, and her hobby was planting trees.  I remember I was in seventh grade we had recently moved to an 18-acre plot of land.  The landscape was a prairie setting, but not for long.   It was in the spring and we had just gotten off the bus.  Lying in front of the house on the driveway were two large wooden crates filled with evergreen seedlings. They needed to be planted soon and Mom asked ”How much homework do you have?’  “Not much”, my sister and I replied.  We should have said we had a science project.  “Go get your boots!” she said excitedly. “I am going to teach you how to plant a seedling. “  Two hours later we had about 100 trees planted.  For the next two weeks everyone planted trees. Those trees now tower the perimeter of the land. They enclose their home. Wild animals use the land as a sanctuary.   I think this is a wonderful metaphor for her life.  Each seedling was planted with care and just like her children and art she watched over them.  When things encroached on her plantings she would take steps to protect them.  Just like her children each one grew into it’s own form.  They stand on their own strong and resilient.  Her enthusiasm, care, and hopefulness permeated her life.

We miss you terribly, but you left us so many wonderful memories and happy times, for you enjoyed your life to the fullest.  Your spirit lives on strong.