Sylvia Clise Duryee

Sylvia Clise Duryee, 89, died peacefully on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014, at her home in Seattle, Washington, held by her daughter, with her beloved cat Katie on her lap. She died on her own terms, as she had lived, wide awake and completely present. Her last words were “It’s ok…It’s very ok.” Sylvia was a lifelong teacher, always trying to educate those around her, show them how beautiful the world is, and call them to love, save, and preserve it. Nature was her inspiration, and she got out into it whenever possible, and encouraged others to at every opportunity. A third generation Seattleite, she was born August 4, 1925, to Charles Francis Clise and Rosalind Cornelia Hammer Clise. She attended The Bush School, graduated in 1943, went to the University of Washington School of Art, was admitted to the Lambda Rho Art Honorary, and left with an M.A. in Ceramics. She was president of the Seattle Clay Club, which met in her house, and she sold her pottery through the Henry Gallery and the Seattle Art Museum. As a photographer, she made an extensive study of all the native flora of Western Washington, which she showed to many garden organizations. She met her husband, Philip Albert Duryee, while racing International 14 sailboats on Lake Washington. They married in Seattle in 1955, and spent the first day of their honeymoon racing in “Dusty”, the little boat Phil had built. With their children, Cornelia and Schuyler, as well as many family and friends, they cruised on their larger boat the “P.S.”, also built by Phil, throughout the Northwest, Alaska, and the Queen Charlotte Islands. Sylvia was a joyful 70+ year member and supporter of the Girl Scouts of America, and also climbed with the Mountaineers. She hiked many of our local trails, including an epic trip around Mount Rainier, and led many of her Girl Scout troops into adventures in the Olympics and Cascades. Sylvia loved wilderness camping so much that she helped the Girl Scouts of Western Washington found a new camp, Camp Towhee, in Sumas, WA, which is named for her camp name. Her lifelong fascination with animals led her to enjoy many equine friends over the years, including Bay Rum, Tjeerd, and Cobus, as well as a beloved dog, Quoya, and two wonderful cats, Ananda and Katie. Sylvia had a lifelong passion for plants, and for 52 years created a stunning and much-visited garden at her home http://outlawgarden.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-lifetime-of-gardening-garden-of.html. She helped begin and, until her final years, helped administer the Hardy Fern Foundation, http://www.hardyferns.org/fall/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.hardyferns.org/fall/ Sylvia gathered seeds and spore in the wild and germinated them; her garden is full of rare and beautiful plants grown from those tiny samples. She and her beloved sister, Jocelyn, with other wonderful friends, ran a Seed Exchange, trading with plant enthusiasts around the world. They spent many happy hours exploring, botanizing and arguing over the scientific names of plants. Sylvia greatly enjoyed sharing her garden, and her plant wisdom, with the many friends and family who were blessed by her encyclopedic garden knowledge. She served on committees, or boards, of the Totem Girl Scout Council, the Northwest Horticultural Society, the Lake Washington Garden Club, the Seattle Garden Club, the Washington Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Arboretum Foundation, and of course the Hardy Fern Foundation. Sylvia is survived by her two children, Cornelia Moore (Terry) of Seattle, Schuyler Duryee of Seattle, and her four grandchildren, Renee Duryee, Tallis Moore, Philip Duryee, and Theo Moore. She was preceded in death by her husband, Philip, her sister, Jocelyn, and her brothers, Alfred and Charles. There will be a Celebration of Sylvia’s Life on February 14, 2015, at 2pm, at University Congregational United Church of Christ, 4515 16th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98115, the church Sylvia loved. If you want to bring a potted fern from your garden to honor her, for the memorial, we are decorating the church with ferns. Donations in Sylvia’s honor may be made to the Hardy Fern Foundation http://www.hardyferns.org/fall/, or the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, https://www.girlscoutsww.org/get-involved/Donate/Pages/default.aspx