Edward V. Lis

Edward V. Lis of Gulph Mills Artist, Edward V. Lis of Gulph Mills, died peacefully Thursday, December 29, 2011, at his home. Born in Tartakow, Poland in 1915, Lis began his art career in 1939 when, as an officer in the Polish Army, he was captured by the Germans and placed in a prisoner-of-war camp in Murnau, Germany. While imprisoned he honed his artistic skills and in 1945 was liberated by American forces. Lis joined the Polish Second Corps in Italy where he remained until his outfit was sent to England and finally demobilized. While in England he continued to study art at the University at Leicester and at the Sir John Cass Art School-London University where his flair for portraiture manifested itself. He arrived in the United States in 1951 and achieved U.S. citizenship in 1956. In addition to the many portraits painted of well known British and European personalities, Lis painted numerous prominent individuals of this country including commissions of presidents of The Union League of Philadelphia, Merrimack College and Villanova University. Other portraits by Lis include those of John Cardinal Krol, Polish President in Exile August Zaleski, Princess Lubomirska and other noted professionals and family members throughout the United States. He has had over 40 one man exhibitions; numerous group exhibitions and was also known as a landscape painter. He spent many summers painting seascapes on Monhegan Island, Maine. In addition to his passion for gardening, he was a glider pilot and life long enthusiast of airplanes. Edward was predeceased by his loving wife Marjorie van Roden Lis. He is survived by his son, Edward (Ted) Lis, Jr., daughter-in-law Connie Joy, grandsons Joshua and Ethan of Schwenksville and his daughter, Elizabeth (Libby) Lis Seybert and son-in-law, James Seybert of Chester Springs. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Friday, January 6, in Sacred Heart Church, 120 Jefferson Street (Swedesburg), Bridgeport, PA 19405. Relatives and friends are kindly invited. The burial in Valley Forge Memorial Gardens is private for family. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Mr. Lis' memory can be made to Neighborhood Hospice, 400 East Marshall Street, West Chester, PA 19380. Family service is with the Boyd-Horrox Funeral Home of East Norriton, (1-800-GIVNISH). To share your fondest memories of Mr. Lis, please visit www.lifecelebration.com.