Thea Linnaea Pyle, 66, of Grays River, Washington, died November 20, 2013, at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, after 10 years’ courageous and challenging co-existence with ovarian cancer.

Born Thea Peterson in Seattle on September 3, 1947, she grew up and attended public schools on Mercer Island. At the University of Washington, she studied with and worked in the herbarium for the great botanist C. Leo Hitchcock, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in botany in 1969. At the UW she met and married David Reagan Hellyer in 1968. Following graduation, they traveled the country, studied and worked at the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming, and served as VISTA volunteers in Cheyenne, WY before Hellyer enrolled in Lewis & Clark Law School. They made their home in Chelan, where he continues to practice. Their children are Thomas Michael, born 1972 in Portland, and Dorothea Alix, born 1975 in Chelan. After a divorce in 1982, Thea lived in Wenatchee until she moved to Gray’s River, Wahkiakum County in 1984, where she married biologist and writer Robert Michael Pyle on October 19, 1985. She lived the rest of her life in the historic 1899 H. P. Ahlberg home known as Swede Park, situated above the Gray’s River Covered Bridge. Thea traveled widely in the USA, Europe, Latin America, and China, but loved most being home. She enjoyed visiting favorite spots on Mercer Island and attending MIHS class reunions. Thea’s life-long Island friends included Heather (Hager) Stern, Judy Lam, and Cathy (Crosetto) Palmer.

Thea Pyle worked as a homemaker, orchardist, goatkeeper, laboratory technician, wildflower teacher, silkscreen assistant, shopkeeper, manager and book-buyer for the non-profit Redmen Hall in Skamokawa, Spartina researcher on Long Island in Willapa Bay, and as a self-employed artist. Her silkscreened wildflower prints and notecards are widely admired; many owners cannot bear to send her cards away, framing them instead. She also made exquisite woodcuts, lino-cuts and drawings. After her cancer began, she switched her artistic energies to weaving, and (if all too briefly) much enjoyed working on her big loom. A member of the Clatsop Weavers and Spinners Guild, she also studied rug weaving with the Finnish ladies of Naselle, and wove some beautiful rugs as her final artworks. Thea was a superb field botanist, gardener, and uncannily observant naturalist, who loved reading, sewing, running, walking, and most especially mushrooming. A superb cook, Thea used her kitchen like a magic show, and lucky were the diners at her table. She gave much of her time as a volunteer for organizations including Naselle Timberland Library, Johnson Park, Friends of Skamokawa, and many others. A lifelong conservationist, Thea took part in numerous efforts to protect natural habitats for plants and animals, save rural landscapes, foster community, and promote the arts.

Thea leaves a sister Anne (Leon) Martin, of Twin Falls, Idaho; a son, Tom (Iliana) Hellyer, a realtor, of Lake Chapala, Mexico; a daughter, Dory (Jeb) Van Bockel, an employee of the City of Portland; four grandchildren, David, Cristina, Edward, and Francis; a nephew, Aaron, of Portland and a niece, Phoebe, of Baker City, Oregon, and five great-nieces and nephews; her former husband David (Terri) Hellyer of Chelan, and other beloved Hellyer family members; her husband, Bob, loving spouse of 28 years, partner of 30, and friend of 46 years; and hundreds of others who are bereft at her loss. She was preceded in death by her parents, Edgar David and Lucille Bernice Peterson, in the mid-1980s. They came from Iowa to Mercer Island in 1942, and lived there for the rest of their lives.

Arrangements for cremation were made by Ocean View Funeral and Cremation Services in Astoria. Thea’s ashes will be returned to her favorite places, to mingle with the flowers, butterflies, and chanterelles. A celebration of Thea’s life will be held on April 26, in Gray’s River. Memorial contributions may be made in her name to the Washington Native Plant Society (of which she was a life member), the Columbia Land Trust, North Cascades Institute, or any charity of choice.

Thea Pyle was an uncommonly kind, intelligent, and lovely person, beloved by all who knew her. She, and her unforgettable smile, strength, and spirit, will be deeply missed by her husband, her family, and her many friends on both sides of the Cascades, around the country, and beyond.