Liga Daiga

1947 - 2019

(News story) Liga Daiga, a high school teacher turned artist, died Wednesday at her Toledo home. She was 72.

The family did not release a cause of death.

Mrs. Daiga, who held a master's degree in education from Bowling Green State University, retired in 2000 after years of teaching high school German at Maumee High School. She previously taught math and German at Toledo Public Schools.

In retirement, she discovered her passion for painting and enrolled in 2009 in art classes at the Toledo Museum of Art.

A former art student of Paul Brand, Mrs. Daiga had exhibited her work at area art shows since 2011, mostly at the Toledo Artists' Club. She was known for her watercolors.

"She was very creative... good-natured and cheerful," Mr. Brand said. "Once she learned the techniques, she took off on her own and became a creative artist with her own free, colorful, unique style."

In 2014, she became a first-place winner in the 34th annual Arts for Our Future Show at the Bedford Branch Library, which attracted 45 artists from Michigan and Ohio.

The next year, Mrs. Daiga had a solo show at the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cleveland. She was proud of her Latvian ancestry, her husband of 50 years, Valdis Daiga, said.

Since then she had participated in a variety of artist workshops in Ohio and Florida.

They included a solo exhibit of her watercolors at the Perrysburg Municipal Building gallery curated by Main Art-ery in Perrysburg in 2018.

Mrs. Daiga told The Blade at the time that her painting leaned toward "representational interpretation and is distinguished by her ability to capture movement and emotion within her work."

Earlier this year, Mrs. Daiga's watercolors were part of an art exhibit at Sanger Branch Library on Central Avenue.

She was a member of the Toledo Artists' Club, where she served on the board and as the gallery director.

Her other memberships included Toledo Women's Art League, Athena Art Society, and Ohio Watercolor Society.

Mrs. Daiga was born June 18, 1947 in Hamburg, Germany, to Imants and Inna Strauts.

She eventually came to the United States, and in 1965, she graduated from high school in Cleveland. She later got a bachelor's degree from what now is Baldwin Wallace University and later a master's from BGSU, both in education.

She married Mr. Daiga in 1969 and settled in Toledo.

Mrs. Daiga was a lifetime member of the United Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cleveland.

Along with her husband of 50 years, she is survived by her sons, Edvins, Talis, and David Daiga; daughter, Ilze Lowenstein; sister, Maija Strauts; and 11 grandchildren.

Visitation will start at 4 p.m. Friday at Walker Funeral Home, 5155 Sylvania Ave., where a Celebration of Life ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. that day.

The family suggests tributes to the church or to a charity of the donor's choice.

This is a news story by Mike Sigov. Contact him at sigov@theblade.com or 419-724-6089.