Marilyn Holsinger

Holsinger, Marilyn 92 Aug. 18, 1922 Mar. 10, 2015 Marilyn "Miki" Campbell Holsinger, 92, artist, designer, calligrapher and teacher died March 10, 2015. Born Aug. 18, 1922, to Robert Arthur Campbell and Myrtle (Westenbarger) Campbell in Lincoln, Neb., the family moved when she was 12 to Northeast Portland where she graduated from Grant High School in 1940. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 1944 with a degree in art. She was president of the Association of Women Students and a member of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority. She also became an accomplished skier. After graduation, she moved to San Francisco with her friends from U of O, working in advertising and eventually for the San Francisco Examiner in the art and advertising department. She was active in the war effort and thus began a lifelong devotion to causes and politics. She married Frank W. Holsinger in 1949. Always stylish, she was known for her shoe collection and sometimes modeled shoes for the Examiner's department store ads. She left the newspaper when her only daughter, Joan Elaine, was born, and her colleague's parting gift was one of her peep-toe pumps, bronzed and mounted on a plaque in her honor. She returned to Portland with her daughter in 1960 and joined the staff of Studio 1030, a group of influential Portland designers and artists that included Byron Ferris, Bennett Norbo and her friend, Charles Politz. The only woman in the office, "Marvelous Marilyn" as the studio brochure titled her, alternated between answering the phone and her own drawing board. In the early 1960s, she earned her MAT degree from Reed College. There, calligraphy classes with Lloyd J. Reynolds would be the greatest influence on her career direction. In 1965, she became the publications designer at Oregon State University in Corvallis, notably designing the University logo, several books for the OSU press and along the way, mentoring many interns from the graphic design department. She also taught calligraphy evening classes at Bush Barn in Salem and at Linn Benton Community College. She continued to be an avid skier and after fracturing her leg in a fall on Mt. Bachelor and surviving breast cancer in 1974, she became a runner. Competing in the Cascade Run-off and the Avon 10k races well into her 60s, she took home many trophies in her age group. At 59, she became a full-time professor of graphic design at the University of Missouri-Columbia, from which she retired in 1987 and returned to Portland. After retirement, she did volunteer design work for the First Unitarian Church and the Friends of the Columbia Gorge. An inspiring woman to her family and students, she often shared the quotes that inspired her. One of her favorites is: "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you truly stop to look fear in the face...you must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt She is survived by her daughter, Joan Holsinger Sotomayor; granddaughter, Amy Shaunette; devoted son-in-law, Enrique V. Sotomayor; niece, JoAnn Reisinger; nephews, Bob Campbell and Jackson Berg; and grandnieces and nephews. Arrangements are by River View Cemetery and Funeral Home where a memorial will be held later in the spring. Contact the cemetery for information. Donations in her memory may be made to the Feral Cat Coalition or the First Unitarian Church of Portland.