1917 – 2003

NORWAY – Ann Swaynie Beyer, 86, died on Thursday, Sept. 11, of pneumonia at Stephens Memorial Hospital.

She was born on March 30, 1917, in Arcadia, Neb., the daughter of Merwin and Mona Margaret Lacy Swaynie. She spent most of her childhood in Nebraska, Ill., and Indiana.

She was a high school graduate and attended a two-year secretarial school. She moved to New Hampshire in 1938. She married Carl Beyer on Jan. 15, 1944 and they moved to Cape Elizabeth.

After the death of her husband in 1964 she made her way to the Oxford Hills area in 1969. She was best known as an accomplished watercolor artist. Having no formal training in her early life she was largely self-taught.

In 1963 she studied with three different teachers in the Portland area. Later in 1964 she became a part-time student of Professor Lajos Matolcsy and continued with him until 1970. She also attended workshops with Milford Zornes and John Pellew.

Her watercolors are widely known in the Oxford Hills area and throughout the State of Maine having exhibited widely and winning many awards and prizes. Her love of the land and all things growing are reflected in her paintings. She was a member of the First Congregational Church in South Paris.

She is survived by three daughters, Karen Chapman of Oxford, Margaret Hesseltine of Gypsum, Colo., and Carla Phillips of Bryant Pond; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a sister, Patricia Tholen of Falmouth; and two nieces.