Eda Varricchio

Eda Varricchio
Internationally known artist, painting teacher, and long-time Santa Rosa resident, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 10th, 2018. She was 95 years old and was predeceased by her husband Frank Varricchio, retired general manager of American President Lines in Europe. Known professionally as Eda, she continued painting until shortly before her death, with her last works done especially for two of her great-grandchildren. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout the world.
Born in Smyrna, Turkey, of Italian parents, her paintings were first shown in Italy. During her long career, she also had shows in San Francisco, Honolulu, Boston, and for the last two decades in Japan, where she is considered one of Japan's finest garden painters. Eda's paintings are also in many private homes in the Bay Area and beyond.
Her love of flowers and nature is portrayed in her signature artwork. She has said of her paintings, done early in the morning when she arose, "free from daily worries", that she wanted to express, "the purity of my existence... to make it possible to maintain pureness in one's heart to keep permanently connected with nature and innocence."
Besides her artwork, Eda's fondest love was her family, whom she saw often. She leaves behind her daughter and son-in-law, Jo Anne and James Whitman of Mill Valley, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Matthew (Florence) Whitman, daughters Bella and Chloe, also of Mill Valley, and John (Lisa) Whitman, sons Riley and Kaden of Fairfax. In addition, she leaves her sister, Brunetta De Andria of Genoa, Italy, and her nephew, James Eckert of Allentown, PA, who lived with her family in Italy.
Services will be at St. Rose Catholic Church, 398 10th St., Santa Rosa, on Saturday November 24th, at 1 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to Unicef, an organization special to Eda.