Sigrid Chase

Being born into a military family she was exposed to travelling the world, the military work ethic and the sense of morals that comes along with it. After settling in Texas, she attended Mary Hardin Baylor and graduated in 1970 with degrees in art and English. While raising her two boys and teaching in Santo, TX she furthered her education with a master’s degree in education from Tarleton State University.

She relocated to San Antonio and it is there she met her best friend and soulmate, Richard Chase. They married in 1980 and promptly took to traversing the country to meet each other’s family, then they travelled extensively in central America. It was a joyful marriage full of love, laughter, and adventure. After having taught for several years, she attended St. Mary’s University and received a master’s in counseling in 1982. She continued to serve the San Antonio community as a high school counselor until she decided to take life in a new direction and enroll in law school. She attended St. Mary’s University and received her juris doctor in 1987. As an attorney, she continued to serve the San Antonio community as a prosecutor with the Bexar County District Attorney’s office.

She lost her husband Rich in August, 1990 in an aviation accident during a military mobilization. The loss was devastating, but it furthered her resolve to experience life as an adventure and leave no unfinished business. She continued to travel extensively around the world visiting exotic destinations. From sailing to diving she did it all. She was a pilot, a master diver, cyclist, and an avid skier. She also loved kayaking, especially with her grandchildren. She shared this spirit and love for adventure with her children and grandchildren, the latter of whom she travelled with across the globe to Hawaii, Alaska, the U.K., and many other destinations.

Holding several diplomas in multiple disciplines, she was always a teacher but also a lifelong learner. Of all these incarnations as an educator, counselor, and attorney she always came back to her one true love which was art. She was a painter, a photographer, a potter, a weaver, and a jeweler. As a potter she filled rooms with sculptures and creative dinnerware. As a photographer she merged her keen eye for beauty in nature with her diving adventures and produced an impressive portfolio of sea life images. In her waning years as creating art became difficult, she collected art. She loved going to art shows and would always take time to seek out conversations with other artists. It was important for her to convey to the artists the connection she felt to their work. Creating and appreciating art truly was her lifelong passion.

Sigrid also enjoyed the performing arts and was a voracious reader. From Shakespeare’s plays --of which she had an annotated edition-- to poems and mystery novels she amassed her own personal library, of which she would regularly donate a great deal to the Angel Fire library.

Sigrid passed away peacefully on October 17, 2023, in her home, surrounded by her family. She is preceded in death by her father and mother Frank and Irma Merrell and her husband Richard Chase. She is survived by her sons Randal and wife Laura, Scott and wife Pam, her grandchildren Chase, Rachel, Elyse, Rowan, Logan, her brother Cliff, and nephew Aron. A graveside service will be held January 5th, 2024, at Ft Sam Houston National Cemetery. Her family will be having a celebration of life immediately afterwards.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make donations instead to Sigrid’s favorite organizations:

The Audubon Society Austin PBS Hospice Austin