Edie Snethen was a trailblazer — among the first female Public Works Directors in the nation. She was creative, bold, and principled in her work; and playful, steadfast and true in her personal and family life. I knew Edie through my dear friends, her grown children, Zach Snethen and Gretchen Hammond. 

I was honored to be asked to put together a life’s compilation for Edie, on behalf of Gretchen and Zach. They requested an art piece to tell her life story.  

Luckily their mother, Edie, had taken the time to document moments in her life in writing. Seven chapters of writing, to be exact! Edie’s compilation of life stories did not disappoint! Complete with photos of her as a kid growing up on a Kansas farm, her cow friend-Tizzy, drawings she had made in school, and stories of perseverance and significant work challenges as a female working in a male-dominated field.

I had her story read to me by a screen reader. After all, when I do live drawing, I’m note-taking from what I hear- a little of what I see, but mostly from what is spoken. As I listened, I took notes. I organized the notes much in the way she had organized her autobiography in chapters, by parts of her life, like “the early days,” “career,” “family,” and more. Her obituary was also a wealth of information.

Once my notes were organized, photos gathered, I made a plan. The most important thing would be to create a dynamic drawing of Edie that would represent her at her best and most memorable. Their plan was to have the visual printed at postcard size and scaled into a large poster, so that meant I needed to condense as much information as I could instead of taking an approach to cram it all onto a postcard size piece.

I referenced the photos of Edie and decided a combination of two images would be ideal for a portrait. I picked one of her smiling, and another of her playing the guitar, which she did often, and apparently to anyone who would listen, including the squirrels! I received a bit more info that Edie had a green shirt she wore often and so I added in that detail. 

Once Edie was drawn and made to be the main focal piece, I moved on to the key points. What made up Edie’s life? What made it grand? What was important to her? I got those details added in and then I pondered how to best represent her dearly loved children and her spouse, Don. Then I came across their love story. Before she and her husband were married they were in a long distance relationship and they played chess by snail-mail, mailing one move with each letter. When you hear something visual like this, it is worth drawing. I knew that was how I wanted to represent their relationship.

I also came across a photo of her two kids when they were young, in a giant sandbox playing. That sandbox photo was so relatable. Knowing these friends as adults and not when they were this age made me pause and reflect. They very much still work in their metaphorical sandboxes. One who is an esteemed architect, designer and community builder. The other, a recreational therapist and scholar who builds networks. Both, to this day, are creating new approaches and are trailblazers in their own ways.

There were some formative stories from Edie’s early years involving her sister, Norma. One in particular involved a bit about Edie dancing with the hens and rooster, and when Norma came out of the house one day, which excited the rooster who quickly approached her. Norma swore Edie had trained that rooster to attack her. Edie swears the rooster was just trying to dance with her!

Edie’s husband Don; her sister Norma; Zach and his family; Gretchen and her family — all gathered a huge cross-section of people to come together and remember Edie’s life. At both the memorial service and the Story Sharing event, beautiful stories and memories about Edie were shared. I cannot think of a more special way to honor their mother, and a way to share her life, her legacy and her efforts with the rest of us. I am glad to have played my small part in contributing this artwork.