Louise Muhler

Louise Shumway Muhler

Nov 26, 1920 - Nov 20, 2014

Louise passed away peacefully of natural causes on November 20, 2014, at the Piedmont Gardens Skilled Nursing facility in Oakland, CA. She was born in Cefalu, Sicily, and her given name was Astarte Lulu Panthea. Her mother was Augustine Ninette Fraux Shumway and her father was Aleister Crowley. Louise came to the United States in 1930 and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1937. She attended Mills College for two years and graduated from the University of California in 1941. In 1940 Louise married Virgil A. Muhler, now deceased, and divorced in 1970. Louise served as a Vista Volunteer for a year in Laredo, Texas, and in 1970 she began working as an ESL teacher in the Oakland Adult Education School and taught for over 25 years. Lou was a member of Montclair Presbyterian Church for over fifty years and had a strong focus on social justice issues. She was also an active member of the Mills College Alumni Association. Lou loved nature and was an avid gardener and amateur expert in botany, zoology, and bird watching. She shared these passions with others for 15 years as a volunteer docent in the Natural History wing of the Oakland Museum. She travelled extensively in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America and was fluent in French and Spanish. She was preceded in death by her brother Howard Shumway. She is survived by her sister, Jeanette Fraux, and brother Richard Shumway; her children, Susan Joan Muhler, William Mead Muhler, John Eric Muhler, and Wendy Louise Nicholson; five grandchildren, Tamara Christine Muhler, Nathaniel Westbook Muhler, Tymon Bennett Nicholson, Alexandra Cristina Aguirre Muhler, and Zoë Andrianne Mountain Muhler; and two great-grandchildren, Kira Louise Muhler Reyes, and William Generoso Muhler Reyes. A memorial service will be held at the Rheinhardt Alumnae House at Mills College on January 17, 2015, at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Mills College for the Louise Shumway Muhler Memorial Scholarship.