NEA colorist Gretchen Grauer Vanderhoof has passed away.
Gretchen deSanzi Grauer Vanderhoof
August 9, 1930 – July 27, 2022
“Her memories of a bohemian childhood are some of her fondest. There was the Fine Arts Studio where a young Gretchen rode her tricycle up and down aisles of artists practicing their craft. And there were glorious summers at the Greenbrier Hotel near Charleston, where her father taught art classes while painting murals at the legendary hotel. “He would allow me to paint small spots on those murals,” she shared. She would continue to paint and draw at her leisure for many years.
Gretchen always had a sophisticated eye for design and, in the mid-1970’s, accepted a managerial position at a new store in Cleveland Heights. Design Corner opened up new trends in design, including the Finnish Marimekko line of fabrics. That same eye extended to fashion, where she excelled at selling in upscale boutique clothing stores. Gretchen always dressed in a chic, classic style.
She attended Laurel School in Shaker Hts., Ohio and entered Briarcliff College in New York, where she studied art and design before returning to Cleveland to study at Western Reserve University (which would later become Case Western Reserve University.) She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree [on June 11,] 1952. Her first job after graduating was working for the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) adding color to their comic strips.
*Unknown what strips Gretchen worker on.
The above NEA Sunday comics are from November 1952
and are for illustration purposes.
Did she do the colors on them? Maybe, maybe not.