Born Lois Weaver on August 12 , 1912 , Lea ’ s father was an engineer and architect . Her mother was a housewife and loved to sing opera , although not professionally . She had an older sister , a younger brother , and a younger sister , named Nan .
According to a cover profile in Scribner ’ s Magazine , June 1937 , which featured architectural draftsman Lois Weaver , “ by age seventeen , [ she ] was designing wrought iron lights and hardware and supervising the blacksmiths that followed her plans in the making of them . At twenty , she was capable of directing construction work on houses , and at twenty four , in association with her father , [ she had ] designed complete houses , from cellar to attic .” The article continues : “ She thoroughly understands building and labor costs and how to deal with workmen … Outside business hours , Miss Weaver finds her principal pleasure in painting . After that come tennis , riding , cooking , [ and ] making her own clothes .”
She married an attorney , Manfred William Ehrich Jr . ( aka “ Fred ”), when she was in her late 20 ’ s . According to daughter-in-law , Elizabeth , beautiful courtship letters between Fred and Lea document that theirs was a genuine romance .
War Time
Portrait of Lea Ehrich on the cover of Scribner ’ s Magazine
Fred graduated law school in 1940 and went on active duty ( before the war started ). Their first son was born in June 1941 . Lea gave birth to twins ( one boy / one girl ) in September 1942 while Fred was already stationed in the Aleutian Islands . He was there for the next three years , leaving Lea a single mother to care for three children during World War II .
Lea was known for painting multiple versions of the same landscape - in an attempt to accurately capture the beauty of Vermont .
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