Elizabeth Rea

1933 - 2021

Elizabeth (Smith) Rea

CASPER - Elizabeth (Smith) Rea was born January 22, 1933 in Beirut, Lebanon. She died peacefully at Wyoming Medical Center on Monday, January 11, 2021, just 11 days before her 88th birthday. She was surrounded by her family and held in the hearts of many who loved her. Liz was a rare Casper gem-a full mix of art student, Beirut beauty, independent western woman and sophisticated world traveler. She was liberated, educated and cool, always welcoming an endless stream of diverse visitors to Casper. From teens to outcasts, two St. Bernard dogs and numerous cats, she welcomed them all and documented everything through terrible photographs and vivid sketches and caricatures.

Liz was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Her mother, Alice Bliss Smith, had been a nurse during the World War I flu epidemic, and her father, Byron Porter Smith, was chairman of the English department at the American University of Beirut. Her childhood was both sheltered and worldly. She was surrounded by beloved aunts, uncles and cousins in Beirut's American community. During World War II, her two older siblings were evacuated to Australia and America, and at the time of one especially serious threat of German attack, she and her parents were briefly evacuated to Jerusalem for safety. She became somewhat of a mascot to the British troops protecting Beirut, as many of them had left behind younger siblings in England. She kept in touch with them as they aged and even visited some of them during her travels. She attended the American Community School in Beirut and became fluent in "kitchen" Arabic, learned from the cooks and maids in her house. Throughout her life she would revert to Arabic when swearing, talking in her sleep, or visiting with cousins. As a young teen, she became interested in art, and her talent was encouraged by her parents. In ninth grade, she left Beirut to attend boarding school in Northfield, Massachusetts. Later she studied art at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia and the Art Student League in New York.

She met her future husband, Bayard Dodge Rea of Pittsburgh, when relatives introduced them while she was still a student at the art school in Philadelphia. Both families had ties to Beirut and its American University stretching back many generations. The introduction grew into romance and led to marriage in 1952 following Bart's graduation from college with a geology degree. Just before Bart was discharged from the Navy in 1955, their first child, Marjory, was born in Norfolk, Va. They then moved to Casper with the oil business. Dan was born in Casper in December 1956. Their third child, Bill, was born in Billings, Mont., in 1961, when the family lived there for three brief years before returning to Casper. They were among many families that moved to Casper around that time, and through their service to civic, political, religious and cultural institutions, made Casper the place they wanted it to be.

Liz had a full social life with many friends in Casper and around the world. She was active in the GeoWives Club; a longtime supporter of the Casper Symphony; a longtime board member of the Fort Caspar Museum; an avid reader and member of book clubs; an active member of the Casper Artist's Guild and the Murie Audubon Society, where she and Bart helped with decades of potlucks after each year's Christmas Bird Count; and an active member of the Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church, where she organized a series of religious art shows. She was an early board member of the Wyoming Counseling Center.

She was a Mediterranean transplant in Wyoming and brought her middle eastern cooking skills with her. Occasional trips to Denver always included a stop at the Middle Eastern grocery store. Her kids assumed everyone ate tabbouleh with moose sausage and homemade flat bread. For years, between peeling logs, she served, fed and supported the summer volunteer crews of family and friends building the log cabin on Casper Mountain-an effort that would have been impossible without her.

The Depression and World War II gave her a frugal foundation and a generous heart. She had diverse and close friends from all backgrounds. She loved being surrounded by friends and family. She preferred written correspondence, and many in her circle received hand-painted thank-you cards with a memory of something shared. Her Rolodex was always close at hand and she kept it constantly up to date with phone numbers, addresses, birthdays and names of people's children and pets.

You could not know Liz without knowing she was a talented artist. She painted all her life. She became a devoted student of Steve Naegle at Casper College. A sketchbook and pen were always close at hand. Often numerous sketchbooks surrounded her: one in the glove box, one in her day pack, one in her purse and one on the seat next to her. The sketchbooks were never chronological but filled with everything from landscape to people. She introduced her children to the joy of talking about light and how it is constantly changing. Her watercolors captured the vast Wyoming skies, plains, and mountains. All of their world travels are recorded in her sketchbooks.

Bart notes that their relationship, because it was first made possible by relatives, has been referred to by some as an arranged marriage.After 68 years of happy marriage, he says, they would both recommend the blessings of arranged marriages to anyone considering that option.

Elizabeth (Smith) Rea is survived by Bayard Rea, her husband of 68 years; her daughter, Marjory Rea, of Sheridan; son, Daniel Bliss Rea, of Casper; son, William Holdship Rea III, of Bozeman, Mont.; daughter-in-law, Susan Baseleon Rea of Bozeman; and beloved granddaughters, Mackenzie and Katherine.

She was predeceased by older siblings, Edward Blatchford Smith and Alison Smith Goodman.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to Climb Wyoming, Fort Caspar, Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church, Wyoming Community Foundation, Casper Humane Society, Art 321, or an organization of the donor's choice.

A memorial service will be held at a later date, post-Covid.