I knew Louise from University of Chicago. She was a thoughtful and kind girl.

Louise once asked me what was the most extraordinary experience of my life, aside from marrying Louise, that is. I proceeded to tell her my "snow leopard " story. I once had a friend who worked at The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. She knew how much I have always loved cats so she phoned me one day to saymshe had a special "treat" for me at the Z00. We arranged to meet at her office.  She told me to close my eyes, took my hand and led me out to an enclosed out-
door space. My eyes still closed she told me to put out my arms
and open my eyes. Unbelievably, she had placed a snow leopard cub in my arms.I will never forget those magical  grey eyes or the sound of her purring. After a few minutes she became "squirmy" and I set her down. Louise went on to tell me how lucky I was to have been able to see, much less hold such a wonderful creature when books have been written about snow leopards by people who had never even seen a snow leopard. I would trade a million such magical moments to see just once more Louise's eyes and to hear the sound of her voice and
laughter.



I’m writing from my room in the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. I was here in November 2021, when I happened to learn that Louise had passed away on 27 August. 
We met in 1978 when I was at the University of Chicago Law School. Louise was a wonderful, intelligent, and lively person. 
I cherish memories like jogging together along the lake front, going to a show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and afterwards acting out at the Jerry Lee Lewis Honky Tonk Bar in lively country & western dancing. What a fun girl! Later we travelled to Cozumel and to Chichen Itza in Yucatán. 
Louise enriched my life, and I am grateful for the time I spent with her. There will always be a very special place in my heart for that wonderful person.  

August 27th will mark the one-year anniversary of Louise's death.  Still cannot get over it.  This past May In a span of two weeks our two beloved cats died. My sweet, sweet boy Rossini, 11 y.o died on May 2nd at approx. 1 a.m.  Luna, Louise's favorite, died on May 16th (Louise'sbirthday) at 2:30 a.m. Luna hadn't been feeling well and had had an appointment with the vet scheduled for the next day, the 17th. I was holding her in my arms, her eyes closed when I said " meow".  She 
opened her eyes, looked at me, said "meow", closed her eyes and died in my arms. I am certain Lopuise wd. have wanted to know that.  The
three most precious beings in my life are now gone, leaving me sad and very lonely. Louise
stopped loving me after thirty yrs. together and I can live with that.  My "karma", I suppose. How-
ever many questions remain unanswered.  Nevertheless I will always love her.  She wd. sometimes tease me when I wd. tell her my favorite Portuguese word is "paraiso", Paradise in English.
                            Adeus, meu amor.
                            Vejo voce no Paraiso.
                             Espero.

Louise and I had our "first date" on June 26th, 1985. Louise's father, Eric, had been Sweden's
official envoy to Pretoria, South Africa from 1966 to 1970. Louise and her sister Caroline 
had lived with their parents in S. Africa at the time so Louise and I went to see the movie THE
GODS MUST BE CRAZY, ostensibly a movie about Southern Afica.  Another important date was October 1st, 1994, when Louise and I were married in Stockholm. Unfortunately we were divorced in April of 2015. I have never stopped loving /missing her and hope to be with her soon.
Finally found a photo of us on our wedding day, 
10/1/94 in Stockholm.

In many ways Louise was the archetypal Swede, no more so than in her love of hiking in the mountains;we fantasized about doing all 48
4, 000 footers in N.H.  Unfortunately because of her work schedule
as Curator of Asian Art at W.A.M. and my worsening heart condition
we only managed to do 14 of said 4,000 footers, the last being Mt. Moosilaukee ( 4203') in Benton, N.H.  Friends would tease me about some of my hiking shirts, fluorescent yellow,lime green,bright red, for example and Louise would say that I chose the colors because I was,
in her words, "pathologically directionally challenged". In other words it made it easier for Louise to find me whenever I got lost.
Trust me__-- it happened.  Now that she is gone I feel lost more than ever.


Most people never knew of Louise's love of American Country/Western music.  I remember
the many times we were in the car, listening to the radio( C/W station, of course) and listening to Louise singing along ( charmingly, slightly off
key) to the radio. In Oct. of 1989 I was invited
to give a lecture at S.M.U. in Dallas. Louise went
with me and we spent two nights in Ft. Worth
because we had heard there was to a re-enact-
ment of a " 19th century bank robbery." She bought a pr. of boots and I bought her a 10gal.
hat.  When we divorced I gave her a trove of photos I had taken of her over the 30 years we were together. Big mistake. I unfortunately gave her the only 4x5 color Polaroid print of Louise atop a mechanical bull, taken by the bar's  photographer.  Wish I had kept it.
Louise often gave as good as she got. I once
told her I didn't understand the aesthetici im-
portance
of certain Japanese prints, her specialty. She told me that I should be in HER
shoes when I would begin to babble about 
16th  C. Portuguese Manueline architecture and the influence of Indian and Islamic architecture on its development. Louise's doc-
total dissertation at the U. of Chicago  was perfection. I was with her when one of her
"readers" told her that her work should be used
as an example of how to write a doctoral 
dissertation. Louise was was too modest to mention this to people but I'm not. She was brilliant. I miss her terribly. Especially listening
to her singing along with Dolly Parton.



Louise and I met in 1979 as students at the University of Chicago.  For me it was "crush " at first sight.  When she married a fellow student I was heart-broken.  On Feb. 13, 1985 at a retirement party for Louise's mentor, Fr. Harrie Vanderstappen, I was taken aback as Louise walked in with her then-husband, David Bradley.  I'm afraid I was not very nice to my "date"
as I was more interested in Louise.
Later that summer I took an apartment at 5346 S. Cornell in Hyde Park where the building manager told me of another student from the Art History department living in the building.  After signing the lease I exited the building,  and heard a familiar voice behind me call "Chet ?" It was Louise!  SHE was the Art History student living in the building.  My heart skipped a beat because the "crush"was still there.  She invited me for a cup of tea and we reconnected.
She was recently divorced and working at The Art Institute of Chicago while writing her dissertation. Unbelievably I had been hired the previous week as a staff-photographer at The Art Institute.  Don't tell ME there is no such thing as Fate.  
Louise moved back to Stockholm in April of 1994.  Louise phoned me one day telling me that we should get married.  We were married Oct. 1, 1994 in Stockholm at the cathedral of  St. Engelbrekt. One of my fondest memories of the ceremony was the priest, Dr. Magnusson excusing himself so he could go to the sacristy to get his camera in order to take our photo.  I quit my job at the A.I.C. and moved to Stockholm in March of 1995.  We lived there until  the end of 1999 when Louise accepted a position at The Boston MFA where I was also hired as a photographer. We lived in Cambridge until 2001 when Louise accepted a position as Curator of Asian Art at the Worcester Museum of Art where she worked until 2013. 
In April of 2015 we were sadly divorced.
Without Louise, the sun has dimmed appreciably. I hope to see you soon, my darling. I love you. 

Louise and I a deck of tarot cards and cups of tea. Louise and Cher, my beloved friend from 1964, picnicking on my grass, swatting flies , coming inside to play with the rescued cats , the exotic cats, the dogs
In Boston , at the museum , her lectures, tours, dinners in hotels. Dinner parties at my home with Archie , Duke of this and that.  Always Chet,  the most romantic and gentlemanly courtier a woman could ever ask for, placing a shawl around her shoulders just as the air chilled , always, always putting her happiness first  Louise was so lucky to be loved in that way. She achieved her professional and academic goals.  She was loved. She had it all 

I am deeply sorrowed to learn of the passing of my colleague and dear friend Louise. I first met Louise in 2000, when we worked together in the Asian Art Department at the MFA: our deep friendship continued through nightly telephone chats and many visits once she departed the Boston area upon her appointment as the Curator of Asian Art at the Worcester Art Museum. In addition to being a gifted scholar of Japanese art, she was an extraordinary astrologer, and everything I learned about the planets and stars I owe to her. 

For more than a decade and a half Louise and Chet were integral to my life. We visited museum and gallery exhibitions together, shared a warm network of art collectors and colleagues, and celebrated life together on holidays and at soirées at my home. She was a great lover of the feline species, and I will always be indebted to both Chet and Louise for discovering a litter of kittens one night—two of which became my beloved companions for many years.

In 2002, when I visited her homeland of Sweden, Louise arranged for me to meet her father Erik and her mother "Gitt." I will never forget their generosity, and especially Gitt’s personal guided tour to a wide array of Stockholm’s highlights, and since it was the summer, the day of activities she organized on my behalf seemed endless! We were able to continue our friendship through her visits to Louise and Chet in the States.

I will always remember Louise for her beauty, scholarly knowledge, myriad talents, and insightful spirituality and mystery. I extend my sincere condolences to Chet, her sister Caroline, her niece Maria, and nephew Edward.


I will always treasure my wonderful memories of the times I spent with Louise and Chester in Chicago and the magical week I spent with them in Stockholm in 2001.   There was nobody like Louise.



It was my privilege to sit with Louise at the end of her life and in some small way hold open the space for her to go in peace. I am a volunteer at hospice and I met Louise and Joe there. Joe's tender care and love for Louise was evident the moment I met him. He generously shared bits of their life together and I was honored to hear stories of her life. 
In celebration of Louise's extraordinary life I went to Hen and Heifer and chose a pastry of the kind she and Joe loved and enjoyed it in her honor, it was delicious.
Thank you for allowing me to walk with you Louise at the very end of your life. You left treasured.
Sincerely, 
Carol Lyons


OBITUARIO

Louise Virgin

16 mayo, 1953 – 27 agosto, 2021

Swan Funeral Home

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