Pat McCulloh, an accomplished artist and educator, died Jan. 17 at the age of 92. The longtime Gambier resident was married to Professor Emeritus of Classics William McCulloh for 68 years.
Born on May 9, 1931, in Tucson, Arizona, McCulloh attended Worthington High School and received several degrees from the Ohio State University, including a master of fine arts in printmaking. She was passionate about art even as a child, according to her children, Ann McCulloh and Michael McCulloh.
“She was immersed in art and color from a very young age, and she just absolutely infused everything she did with aesthetics, art and a love of beauty,” her daughter said. “When she was a little kid, she couldn’t be stopped from pushing the furniture back and coloring on the walls.”
Throughout her life, McCulloh produced paintings, prints, drawings and handmade rugs. She enjoyed teaching art at Kenyon from 1972-1980 and occasionally thereafter, Ann McCulloh said.
“She really loved inspiring and helping people who were serious about studying art,” she said. “Something that really made her happy was seeing that spark in other people and encouraging it.”
She is survived by her husband, William McCulloh; children, Ann McCulloh and Michael McCulloh; brother, Bjorn Nilson; two nieces and a nephew.
A member of Harcourt Parish Episcopal Church, McCulloh’s life will be celebrated during a service at 1 p.m. on Feb. 10 at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Gambier.
Her colleagues and friends at Kenyon remember her as gifted, generous and good-natured.
"Our connection was partly through art, specifically printmaking, which we both taught at Kenyon, but it was much deeper than that,” said Claudia Esslinger, professor of art. “Pat was smart and funny, perceptive and kind. She was always interested in learning new things and talking about our observations. Her special gift was a love of color, shown in her oil pastels, prints and handmade rugs."
Professor of Classics Carolin Hahnemann said McCulloh was very much a part of the department where her husband taught, too, bringing her warm and welcoming presence to so many events.
“Her presence was delightful,” Hahnemann said.
McCulloh brought an independent mindset to everything she did, whether it was her art — for which she created her own pastels from pigments — or her home, which she was constantly remaking, according to Hahnemann.
“She was always making a home in the most artistic and soulful way. A lot of the art on the walls is her own and she worked in all kinds of media. You might be standing on a rug that she had braided or drinking from a cup that she had made. The place is really imbued with her presence. Both the house and the garden were almost these kinds of magical places.”
Hahnemann added that McCulloh, a follower of the Ohio State football team, was a pillar of the Gambier community, a good listener and a wonderful storyteller, who was smart, loyal and a great cook.
As an artist, McCulloh particularly loved the tactile nature of the work, her daughter said.
“She loved putting paint on the canvas. She loved rolling ink onto a plate. She loved dyeing and handling all the brilliant colored fabrics that she used in her textile art and her rugs,” Ann McCulloh said.
Her son described McCulloh — who also acted in Kenyon theater productions and designed props and costumes — as an inventive creator who loved variety in her work.
“She kept trying to do different, new things,” he said. “But she was always fundamentally focused on color.”