Early Life
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 mak-
ing 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
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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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.