Ernest "Ernie" Goertzen
Not to be mistaken with Deadwood, South Dakota, the Deadwood Trading Post in Deadwood, Oregon highlights our beautiful coastal mountain community. Our on-line store lists Authors, Books, Art, Pottery, Ceramics, T-Shirts, Watercolor, Paintings, Handmade Pencils, Drawings, Pen and Ink, Tie-Dye, and Wood Products. We also highlight Fishing, Hunting, Pictures of Oregon's Coastal Mountains, Logging, Creeks, Rivers, Streams, Salmon, Steelhead, Elk, Deer and other wildlife. Please take the time to visit our artist pages and enjoy your stay.
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Deadwood Trading Post
Deadwood Oregon Trading Company, Deadwood, Oregon
Ernest "Ernie" Goertzen, was born Feb. 14, 1926, to Jacob S. and Pauline Unruh in Goessel, Kansas.
He attended Heimbaugh country grade school, where he later taught, and Goessel High School. During Civilian Public Service in World War II he worked in Hill City, S.D., and in a mental hospital in Upsilanti, Mich.
After graduating from Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., and marrying Mary Lou Rich in 1951, he taught school in western Kansas and Nebraska for three years. In 1957 he completed a master's degree in library science at the University of Illinois and became a reference librarian at Kansas State University.
In 1965, the family moved to Berkeley, Calif., where he worked in the Berkeley Public Library. In 1969 he resigned and became a full-time artist, singer and inventor. In 1970-71, the family became part of a community that were caretakers of the historic mission San Antonio de Padira in California. The mission was located in the middle of Hunter Liggett military reservation. His gifts of quiet and gentle peacemaking were just what was needed, as this was during the Vietnam War.
In 1975, the family moved to an old schoolhouse in Deadwood, Ore., selling their art work at the Eugene Saturday Market. He was a spiritual grandfather to many. Ernie passed away at 78, on July 22, 2004 in Deadwood, Oregon.
These paintings are prints of originals and adhered to matting as illustrated. Each has a description written by Mary Lou Geortzen in pencil on back of matting. They are available in the Deadwood Trading Post on-line store.
