DAVID FRAISER DRIESBACH

1922 - 2019

David Fraiser Driesbach, master printmaker and Presidential Professor Emeritus from Northern Illinois University, passed away Sunday, November 17, 2019, at the age of 97. Mr. Driesbach resided at Wynscape Rehabilitation Center in Wheaton, and died from complications suffered from a recent fall. Mr. Driesbach was born on October 7, 1922 in Wausau, Wisconsin to George Croll Driesbach and Lucy Adelaide Kilbourn. They moved to Rockford, Illinois early in his childhood, when David began to demonstrate his gifts in the artistic realm. As a seven-year old, he would often accompany his mother, also a talented artist, to meetings of the Rockford Art Association, where he would practice still life and figure drawing. During the 1930s, David and his two brothers loved to sing, and would perform as a trio on the radio in Rockford. He met the love of his life, and future wife of 72 years, Doris Elaine Magnuson, while in junior high school. Both graduated from Rockford High School in 1940. Driesbach set off to the University of Illinois in 1940, but his schooling was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. He would go on to enlist in the Marine Corps First Division, and was sent to the South Pacific, where he served from 1942-1945. Due to his keen sense of direction and artistic abilities, he was tapped as a scout, who would seek out enemy encampments, and return to headquarters to draw the war map for the officers in charge. He returned to the United States on Thanksgiving Day, 1945, having lost one brother in the Navy. He recalled every soldier on board ship weeping when they crossed under the Golden Gate Bridge, seeing their home country again at long last. Shortly after the war, David and Doris "Maggie" were married on December 21, 1946, and five children followed soon after. He completed his studies at the University of Iowa in 1951, earning an MFA, and became an art professor at several colleges and universities, before ending his illustrious career at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Driesbach was an extremely prolific artist, creating hundreds, if not thousands of artworks throughout his life. Up to the end of his life, he enjoyed drawing and painting at Wynscape. He was an innovator in the development of new printmaking techniques, and was featured in multiple national and international exhibitions. In his later years, he traveled the country giving workshops at colleges on color viscosity printmaking, a technique he learned while on sabbatical in Paris. He received the Printmaker Emeritus Award from the Southern Graphic Council International in 2012. Driesbach was a kind, gentle, fun-loving spirit, who was known for spontaneously breaking into song in public places. He was a devoted husband to Maggie, and dear father to John Driesbach (Janice) of Akron, Ohio, Julie Nelson (John) of Quincy, Illinois, Elizabeth Eisen (Paul) of Menasha, Wisconsin, Emily Wolffing (Craig) of Green River, Wyoming, and Carrie Provost (Robert) of Wheaton, Illinois. David also cherished his thirteen grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren. He was admired and loved by everyone who knew him. David was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers, one sister, his wife, Maggie, and his eldest grandson, Jeffrey McCorkle. In addition, Driesbach is survived by his sister, Joy Peterson of Louisville, Kentucky, and his stepsister, Annette Holmes of Chino Hills, California. A celebration of David's life will be held in December at Wyndemere. In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of David may be directed to the NIU Foundation for the benefit of the NIU Art Museum (P.O. Box 746, DeKalb, IL 60115).