An article about Wyatt Wolffe for the Gazette-Journal uncovered a second story, told here.

The Gazette-Journal was unable to locate a photo of Wyatt and Eoline Wolffe, either together or singly. However, in looking for a photo we contacted his great-nephew, Rick Foster of Richmond, who called our attention to Wyatt’s sister, Bertha Wolffe Foster, and her many years as an artist.

Bertha “was very creative, a prolific painter, and it seems like she was a strong woman with opinions,” Foster said. He and his sister both reside in Richmond and have a number of their grandmother’s paintings.

These include a painting of Venice in 1913, two views of a United States full-rigged ship under sail, and, said Foster, “one very odd image of an odd robot-like creature striding across a pastoral landscape. So strange for the time and place in which it was created.”

Bertha Wolffe Foster was active in civic and social affairs of Mathews until her later years. In 1962, a health scrapbook that she created for the Mathews County Woman’s Club was awarded first place from the Lee District and the blue ribbon from the State Federation.

An article in the Gazette-Journal said Bertha was also a member of Daughters of the American Revolution, Virginia Historic Commission, Daughters of the Confederacy, and Christ Episcopal Church.

She said that she did not set out to enter a contest with her scrapbook, but, as an artist, said she likes to work in color and follow rules of harmony and detail.

Bertha died in 1972 in Richmond, aged 92. Her family cherishes the artworks she left behind.

COURTESY OF RICK FOSTER
Images of a square-rigger, a robot, Venice, and Joyce Foster hanging her stocking on Christmas Eve, are among the legacy of artwork from Bertha Wolffe Foster.