Mina Marie Sturmer

Mina Marie Monteith Sturmer
TRAVERSE CITY – Mina Marie (Monteith) Sturmer, noted educator, artist, author, and mother, passed away peacefully at home in the early hours of December 17, 2020. Marie, as she was known by most, began her lifelong journey expressing the creative arts in Detroit, Michigan. She attended Cranbrook Arts Academy, studying under Harry Bertoia. From there she attended Alma College, graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and secondary teaching certificate and finally Wayne State University where she received her Masters of Fine Arts. Her teaching experiences began in the Detroit school system where she was a pioneer in putting art classes on television.
Her public-school experience spanned the gamut of early elementary through high school, even including adult art classes during the summer months. Her chosen medium of expression evolved over the years beginning with oil and watercolor painting, silver jewelry fabrication and casting, to quilting using the lost art of stenciled whole cloth construction. Her award-winning quilts hang in the American Quilt Society museum in Paducah, KY, and the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. In addition, a collection of five quilts are part of the permanent Smithsonian collection at Michigan State University. After retiring as a school art teacher in Traverse City, she focused on writing several books detailing the history and process of her stenciled quilts. She never left the teaching mode, always seeking out ways to share the ideas she environed with others.
She, and her husband Ralph, enjoyed the creative process of building and remodeling homes, having individualized fifteen of them over the years. Marie is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, two grand-children and three great-grandchildren. Her nephew, Clifton, was a frequent visitor with flowers and engaging conversation. Burial will be in the Lake Ann Cemetery alongside her beloved husband, Ralph.