Longtime Claremont arts patron, volunteer, traveler

Longtime Claremont resident Perdita L. Sheirich died in peace early in the morning on January 15 at the age of 94.

“Ever determined, Perdita struggled with macular degeneration and hearing loss, and was confined to her wheelchair, but never felt sorry for herself, and appreciated her visits with family and friends as well as the housing and care she received while living the last five years of her life at the Claremont Manor,” her family shared.

Born on Easter, April 20, 1930 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to Grant and Virginia Griffen Loomis, Perdita attended Peabody Elementary School in Cambridge through the fifth grade until 1941, when the family moved to Berkeley, California, where her father took a position at UC Berkeley as a professor of German. She was a Camp Fire Girl and attended public schools through high school, graduating from UC Berkeley in 1952 with a BA in decorative arts and a minor in art.

While at Berkeley she was active with the school magazine, Pelican, where she started as a “Pelly” salesgirl, rose to director of fashion shows and women’s director. She was a member of the Prytanean Honorary Society, and Alpha Chi Omega sorority, with which she remained as a member for over 75 years.

After graduation she went on to a career in wholesale fabric in San Francisco with Stroheim & Romann. The job took her to New York City in 1956, and then back to San Francisco to manage its offices there in 1960. In between she traveled solo through Europe, including to Portugal, Spain, and Italy, and other European destinations.

In 1962 she married Richard (“Dick”) Sheirich who was teaching in the German department at UC Berkeley, and in 1965 they moved to Claremont when he accepted a position teaching German and literature at Pomona College, where he would remain for 31 years until retirement.

She integrated herself into campus and community in Claremont for the rest of her life. A patron of the local arts and artists, she was a supporter of Claremont Heritage’s Garner House, Claremont Lewis Museum of Art, and a member of Campus Women and the Rembrandt Club, where she served on the board for many years as program chair, twice as its president, once as co-president, and director. She also worked on Pomona College Magazine for approximately 47 years as author of its campus notes section.

Her busy life included expert dressmaking, furniture refurbishing, gardening, knitting, crocheting, needlepoint, home decoration and remodeling (including knocking out walls!).

Many summers throughout her marriage were spent in travel across Europe and particularly Germany, where they had the occasion to visit East Germany before the Berlin Wall came down.  River cruises along the Rhein, Main, Danube, Seine, Elbe, Moselle, and others were also a favorite. Extended sabbatical travel for study, and research found them staying in Vienna.

“It was a rich, rewarding, and full life lived. She will be missed by so many,” her family said.

For more about her life, read the May 15, 2020 Claremont Courier article, “Our neighbor: Perdita Sheirich.”

Her husband of 49 years, Richard, predeceased her in December 2011.

She is survived by her stepson Paul Sheirich, of Laguna Woods, California; stepgranddaughters Lori Sheirich, Monterey, California, Rosslyn Strait, Clearlake, California, and Jasmine Boek Ukiah, California; stepgrandsons Brandon Sheirich, San Leandro, California, and Ryan Sheirich and his daughter Isla, Barcelona, Spain; nieces Katie McGregor, Mariposa California, and Beth Spencer, Cottonwood, California; nephew Bill McGregor, Oregon; and 11 great-, and great-great nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers or cards, please consider a donation to the Rembrandt Club’s Perdita Sheirich Scholarship Fund at therembrandtclub.org/perdita-donate.