Elisabeth Marie "LIS" Stork Saya

1948 - 2020

Elisabeth "Lis" Marie Stork Saya was born in Pittsburg, PA on the 17th of November, 1948. She died, after a long courageous struggle with cancer, at home on the afternoon of August 24th, 2020.
It is difficult to sum up the life of someone so colorful and flamboyant, so extraordinary friendly and cheerful, so kind and gentle and so full of life. When she walked into a room with her infectious laugh and smile, she lit the room up instantly. She always dressed colorfully and was the friendly artist/musician that everyone called their friend. She had an insatiable appetite for music. Anyone who knew her quickly realized that she always had time for one more tune.
Hers was no ordinary life. Shortly after Lis was born, the family moved from Pittsburg to Bryn Mawr, PA. Her family was very musical. Both parents played piano and the children used to fall asleep to the sound of fourhand piano duets being played on the old upright piano. The children learned folk songs at an early age. They would often stand behind their father and sing harmony while he played piano. They would sing rounds and songs while riding in the family station wagon. The family moved several times and in 1963 they moved from Bryn Mawr, PA to Chevy Chase, MD where Lis graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1966. Lis travelled to Europe in the summer of 1966 with her older sister and friends. She stayed on in France afterwards to study French literature at the Universite Grenoble. She came back to the states to finish her studies at Boston University, graduating in 1971. Lis spoke fluent French and enjoyed reading French literature throughout her life. Shortly after graduation she met and married Vincent Daniel Saya. Vince and Lis moved to Atlin, British Columbia and then to Haines, AK and eventually to Juneau in 1977. With Vince she had two sons, Aengus and Leif. Vince and Lis parted company shortly after Leif's birth. In 1983 she met and fell in love with Greg McLaughlin, a concertina player, who would become her lifelong partner and together they raised the two boys. Together, they shared a deep love of traditional Irish music. Lis and Greg were inseparable, they promoted and organized concerts, started musical groups, wrote books and traveled extensively to Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Iceland, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Lis had the ability to make friends wherever she went. Someone once said "Give Lis 5 minutes of your time and she will become your best friend". Lis taught for the Head Start program in Juneau for 30 years. Her favorite times at Head Start were cooking for the children and circle time (when they would all sing). Lis was always ready to play a tune or meet a new friend. She was adopted into the Tlingit community by her "sister" Helen Watkins of the thunderbird clan. Lis was heavily involved in the community as part of the symphony choir, Bach Society, Saturday Plein Rein art group, French circle, contra dance community, Wednesday night old time jam, highland dance community and beading circle, just to mention a few. Lis could often be seen at symphony performances, theater, opera, folk concerts, art shows or in the lobby at the Folk Festival jamming with other musicians. She loved to play for the contra dances when given the opportunity. Lis lived her life to the fullest. She travelled, she dreamed, she worked, she played, she fell down and picked herself back up again with a smile on her face. Even when diagnosed with cancer, she faced the end of life with dignity, grace, integrity and courage.
Lis is proceeded in death by her father, George Fredrick Stork and her mother, Mary Ernestine Weber Stork. She is survived by her husband and partner of 37 years Greg McLaughlin and her two sons Aengus and Leif, her three sisters Cathy Waters of Fairfield, PA, Lyrinda Snyderman of Berkeley, CA, Diana Stork of Berkeley, CA and her brother David Stork of Portola Valley, CA, her granddaughter, Ysabella Healey of Sturgeon Bay, WI and her former husband Vince Saya of Mammoth Lakes, CA.
Memorial service has been delayed due to Covid, but we are looking forward to celebrating her life at a time when we can all play music and hold each other again. It is the way she would have liked it to be.
A memorial fund has been set up in her name for a scholarship to send a child to Ireland to study traditional Irish music. Donations can be made to the Lis Saya Memorial Fund c/o Northrim Bank, Juneau, AK 99801.