Doris D. Vidinghoff | Artist, art patron, 88

Doris Diebold Vidinghoff, 88, formerly of West Chester, an artist and art patron, died of complications from dementia Friday at Willow Valley Retirement Community in Lancaster.

Mrs. Vidinghoff graduated from Atlantic City High School and earned a bachelor's degree from William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., where she met her future husband, Charles, a student at nearby Hobart College.

She studied at the Art Students League in New York City and taught art to returning GIs after World War II.

In the late 1940s, she and her husband moved to the Main Line when he took a position with Tasty Baking Co. in Philadelphia. While raising a family, she continued to paint, primarily in watercolors and acrylics. She often took courses at the Wayne Art Center. In 2007, a new gallery there was dedicated in her name to honor her generous support of the center's expansion project.

Mrs. Vidinghoff enjoyed gardening, tennis, vacationing in the Poconos, and visiting Phillies spring training in Clearwater, Fla.

She had a lifelong passion for bridge and crossword puzzles.

She is survived by sons Eric and Edward; daughters Anne Clay and Carol; two sisters; three grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. Her husband of 44 years died in 1988.

The funeral will be at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. David's Episcopal Church, 763 S. Valley Rd., Wayne.