Marjorie Gieser, 73, May 14, 1938 - Aug. 12, 2011

Marjorie Ruth Gieser, a prolific liturgical artist, on Friday, Aug. 12 at her home in Wheaton. She was 73.

The cause was a malignant brain tumor, her husband Dr. Richard Gieser, said. 

Marjorie Ruth Nystrom was born May 14, 1938 in Asyut, Egypt. Her parents, Dr. Sigurd Nystrom and Dr. Harriet Skemp, were medical missionaries to Ethiopia. She graduated from Wheaton College where she met her husband Richard G. Gieser. They have lived in Wheaton for 45 years.

In 1976 she received her Masters of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. An artist of various media, she found her calling in the creation of art used to augment worship in churches.

She produced banners, pulpit cloths and vestments of dramatic beauty. She typically created three-dimensional pieces, combining painting with sculptured fabric.

Churches throughout the Chicago region and numerous churches around the world use her work. These include Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Moody Church, Edman Chapel of Wheaton College, and in church sanctuaries in several states. International locations include Coventry Cathedral of England, St. George Church of Bagdad, Iraq, and Khartoum Evangelical Church of Sudan.

While accompanying her ophthalmologist husband on frequent medical mission trips, she found ways to brighten hospital wards by painting colorful murals in Schell Eye Hospital of Vellore, India, Dutch Hospital of El Alto, Boliva, and Eye Hospital of Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

She is survived by her husband of 51 years; a son, Dr. Stephen Gieser of West Chicago; daughters, Wendy Partain and Susan Cassel, both of Wheaton; a sister, Nardos Shuler of Londonderry, New Hampshire; and 12 grandchildren.

Summing up her life’s work, Dr. Kent Hughes, Senior Pastor Emeritus of College Church in Wheaton, said, “Marge’s creations, and their astonishing combination of color, proportion and purpose, flowed from her merry, selfless heart--which was so much in love with Christ and his church.”

A memorial service is scheduled for Sunday, August 28 at 3 p.m. at College Church in Wheaton. Instead of flowers, gifts can be made to Soli Deo Gloria or to Wheaton Academy.