Obituary of Woodrow Mercer Blettel

Woodrow Mercer Blettel, 73, passed away at home in Salem, Ore., on Feb. 9, 2020, from complications of stroke.

 

Woodrow was born in 1946 in Milwaukie, Ore., to VanNoy (Pruitt) Blettel and Isadore “Bud” Blettel. His brother, Lou, was born 18 months later. Growing up he spent summers working with harvest crews on an uncle’s wheat ranch in Heppner, Ore., and on family ranches in and around Madill, Oklahoma. His father was a Scout leader and he had many happy memories of scouting with his brother and lifelong friends Bob and Mike Bovey.

 

Woodrow graduated from Milwaukie High School in 1965 and received his bachelor’s degree in art from Portland State University in 1970.

 

In 1974 he married Susan Doward at The Old Church, in Portland, Oregon.

 

Woodrow and Susan spent a total of 13 years living and working on the campus of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., (1990–1993 and 2002–2012) and several more years in Portland and Salem, Ore.

 

Woodrow taught art in the Beaverton (Ore.) School District for seventeen years. At Sunset High School (1971–1980) he taught a variety of art courses including graphic design, printmaking and pottery. At Beaverton High School (1980–1988) he taught advanced, experimental and beginning photography including camera and darkroom techniques. A number of his students soared to success in careers as professional potters, graphic designers, photographers, and art professors. This brought him great pride and joy.

 

In 1988 he left teaching to become a full-time assignment photographer working primarily with higher education clients and continuing until he retired in 2011.

 

In addition to frequent photo assignments from such clients as Willamette University, University of Tennessee Space Institute, Oregon Arts Commission, Lewis & Clark College and Oregon Health & Sciences University, Woodrow was the photographer for the book, Splendid Audacity: The Story of Pacific University by Gary Miranda and Rick Read, and contributed photographs to All Saints Chapel, Sewanee, Tennessee by William Strode and Ecce Quam Bonum: A Pictorial History of the University of the South by Emily Senefeld and Eric Wilson.

 

There were solo exhibitions of his photography at the Sewanee Writers Conference and the Quidnunc Café, both in Sewanee, Tenn. Other work appeared in exhibitions at Portland State University, the National Art Education Conference, and the Salem Art Association Bush Barn Gallery.

 

When not on assignment, he hiked with his camera in the Southeast U.S. and in the Pacific Northwest enjoying landscape photography. He also liked volunteering with scenery paint and fabrication crews for theatre including plays at Willamette University and in several Portland area theatres.

 

He repeatedly volunteered in the 1990s with the Chaco Project, the National Park Service, and archeologists working in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Beside using his drawing skills to map ancient dwellings of the Chacoan people and taking photographs, he lectured to high school and college classes on the significance of Chaco Canyon and its people. He often told of his nights one spring in a National Park Service house trailer when he almost froze even with every piece of clothing he had brought and every piece of fabric that could be gleaned from the trailer piled on top of his bed.

 

His abiding passion however, was photographing in Venice, Italy. He had the amazing capacity to make friends with people everywhere (language was never a barrier) — he introduced himself to many Venetian crafts people and returned again and again to photograph them at work. The resulting photographs are an essay of the Venetians who work in everyday trades: shoemaker, antique restorer, seamstress, baker, mask maker, glass maker, gondola builder. In May, 2018, even while struggling with the severe physical effects of stroke, he spent 10 days there taking hundreds more photographs. It was his seventh visit to Venice and added to the many thousands of photos in his collection.

 

He is survived by his wife, Susan Blettel in Salem, Ore., brother and sister-in-law, Dr. M.L. Blettel and Patti Blettel, and three nieces and three nephews: Amy Blettel, Emily Blettel Rosenthal, Kim Blettel Moe, and Kris Blettel, all in the Portland, Ore. area, William Torres in San Francisco and Alexander Torres in San Ramon, Cal., as well as parents-in-law, Jean and Colin Doward, and sister-in-law, Claire Torres in Concord, Cal.

 

A gathering of friends is planned to celebrate Woodrow’s life at a later date.

 

Memorial donations in memory of Woodrow may be made to: UNICEF’s K.I.N.D. Fund providing desks for school children and secondary education for girls in Malawi, UNICEF USA, 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038 (msnbc.com/kindfund) or to Willamette Valley Hospice, 1015 3rd St. NW, Salem, OR 97304.

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