By Greg Ellison

(Sept. 24, 2020) Looking to leave a lasting impression on an institution that left an indelible mark on her heart, the family of Mary Doellgast donated several paintings from the prolific artist to the Ocean Pines Library last week.

Nancy Doellgast said her mother, who passed away on June 12, 2019 at 86, was art exhibit coordinator for Friends of Ocean Pines Library from 2004 to 2016.

“She was a very creative person,” she said.

Nancy Doellgast said her mother, who was known as “Oma” to family and friends, worked in a variety of mediums, including landscape watercolors, collage, pastels and graphic design.

“She did a variety of things,” she said. “Most of her work, she was inspired by nature.”

Mary Doellgast, who was immersed in the Eastern Shore art scene and a member of the Ocean City Art League, was employed as a decorator at the Vanderbilt Mansion in Centerport, Long Island before relocating to Maryland.

“Later in life she got a degree in fine arts and interior design,” she said.

After her five daughters, Elena, Nancy, Jeannette, Mary and Alicia, left the nest, Doellgast, then in her 60s, graduated from Suffolk County Community College in South Hampton, New York.

Nancy Doellgast said her father, Alfred, who died in 2002 at 75, shared a passion for nature and art with his wife of 49 years.

“My dad was an artist as well,” she said.

Alfred Doellgast, who wed Mary Waldron in June 1953 at the Incarnation Church in New York City, also served in WWII as a military police soldier with the Blue Devils Occupational Force in Italy.

After spending two decades operating a mechanical engineering business in Brooklyn, Alfred Doellgast transitioned to the educational realm and spent the next 20 years teaching industrial and fine arts in the NYC school system before retiring in 1990. His remaining years were occupied with producing flower and rock sculpture gardens at his residence in Patterson, New Jersey.

“Arts is in the family,” she said. “My younger sister is still a painter.”

Alicia Doellgast, who paints under the name Isha, shared an artistic connection with her mother and continues to echo her nature-centric representations

“She loved to share her passion for the arts through encouraging and inspiring future generations of artists,” she said.

“Growing, we were probably some of the few kids that would go into New York City to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spend a few hours there all seven of us,” she said. “We were always doing things art-related on Sunday.”

The weekend cultural enrichment also involved the literary arts.

“As a kid, my mother took us to the library every Saturday morning,” she said. “Family was the most important thing to my mom.”

Mary Doellgast continued her library connection in later years as a resident of Ocean Pines.

“The Ocean Pines Library was very important to her,” she said.

In 2016, with declining health slowing her down, Mary Doellgast opted to train Paulette Mari to take the reins as the library’s art exhibit coordinator.

“She wanted to hand this off and Paulette volunteered,” she said. “Paulette is her protégé.”

The pair bonded as native New Yorkers with an affinity for the arts.

“They had a lot of shared background,” she said.

Mari and Ocean Pines Branch Manager Harry Burkett were present last Thursday when Jeannette and her sister Mary re-delivered three works, Dolphins, Blue Dolphins and Blue Seas, which were originally slated for a rotational display earlier this year.

“The work was hung back at the end of February but then covid happened,” she said. “It was only supposed to be up for two months.”

After recently being alerted that the Library was again open, albeit in limited capacity, the Doellgast sisters returned and decided to turn the art loan into a gift.

“My sister and I talked and said, ‘Let’s give it to the library because mom would want us to do that,’” she said. “It’s permanent.”