OLD LYME — Professional artist and longtime Old Lyme resident Virginia Greenleaf Koch passed away Thursday, April 16, in Philadelphia, Pa., where she had moved in 2013 to be near family.
A Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achiever, Koch’s work is in many private collections as well as that of the U.S. State Department and has been exhibited in galleries in Washington, DC, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Nantucket, as well as Old Lyme at the Diane Birdsall Gallery.
A childhood resident of Old Lyme, whose mother owned and operated the Bee and Thistle Inn, Koch attended Yale University art school, then resided in Washington, DC, Alexandria, Va., and Nantucket before returning to Old Lyme in 1989, where she was an active community member, friend to many, and popular hostess.
Koch, 94, leaves a son, William Greenough; daughter Deidra Lyngard; grandson Matthew Lyngard; and great-grandchildren Katya Huzau and Roman May.
Her ashes will be interred in the Memorial Garden of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.
What a wonderful woman, artist, and friend. Virginia had such a colorful life and she could tell the most fun stories of characters that came and went. Virginia always painted or drew, art was an integral part of her being. Her work was courageous and contemporary during the Color-field painting days in Washington DC and later when living on Nantucket Island she returned to her roots of drawing and the love of animals and nature. She tackled large canvases incorporating the animal in the landscape with attributes that seem to tell a story. I had the pleasure of exhibiting a large body of work in October of 2008 and her admirers showed up in enthusiastic numbers. I know that those that were fortunate to acquire a work of hers still enjoy her talent and calming color sense as well as the unique approach she had to the subject of animal and nature.
I have some of her artwork that my mother left to me if anyone is interested I would be happy to entertain anyone’s thoughts of what to do with these large pieces
I’m interested in her artwork