Remembering Chrys Street (1930-2022)

Chrys Street (1930-2022)

Chrys Street shared her love of the arts with me through gifts of books, clipped articles, and loyal support of music and theatre programs at St. James Episcopal Church in Marietta. I will remember her as she appeared at church in the front pew, wearing jewelry (her design, I'd bet) and always some sweeping fabric -- a colorful wrap, an elegant scarf. She would close her eyes as she savored the best parts of the choir's anthems.

She taught at the Walker School long before I did, and founded institutions that thrive today, including Cobb County Landmarks historical society, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art in Auburn, Alabama, and the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA.

[PHOTO: The home of William Root, founder of St. James Church, was salvaged, moved to its current location, and restored by the Cobb County Landmarks Society of which Chrys Street was a founding member. See how the society's Talking Walls program affected me as a teacher (11/2014).]

In their online tribute, her family wrote:

Chrys was a true artist in the deepest sense of the word. She designed and made stained glass windows, some of which are installed at the Cobb Youth Museum and Marietta Middle School. She found joy in taking discarded and damaged materials to incorporate them into her arts, a mural from broken dishes, a rooster from a discarded laundry detergent jug, or garlands for a large outdoor Christmas tree made from pie tins. She was always saving broken and discarded things with an eye for giving it new life as a part of some wonderous display.

Stained glass panels by Chrys Street

Because I wanted Chrys to know how I appreciated the books she gave me about songwriters Sammy Cahn and Cole Porter, I put a lot of care into blogposts about them -- and then sent her printed copies, since she "didn't do" online. They are among the best articles I've written:

• So He's Responsible (12/2013) about Sammy Cahn, lyricist behind "Call Me Irresponsible" and dozens of other songs so natural that it feels like no one had to write them.
• Believing in Cole Porter (02/2014)

She was so proud of her husband John and his career with the Portman architecture firm that re-fashioned Atlanta. Their home on Church Street was his design, built in 1955. It's one story, with floor-to-ceiling windows, walkways through gardens, and books, lots of books. The Eisenhower-era billboard in the driveway that proclaims "SOCIALISM doesn't work!: LOOK at EUROPE" is practically a Cobb County landmark itself.

When John's dementia made him uneasy about going out in public, she stayed home from church to care for him. I saw her just once during that period, at the UPS store, when she confessed how disheartening it was.

After the years at home, she came back to church diminished in body, though not in spirit. Even her walking stick was a work of art!

Peace, Chrys.