If you knew the late Virginia Cattle, you would have noticed her signature handbags.
The wooden purses were works of art, varnished and painted with seasonal colors or images, and hung over her arm. You might have thought they were one-of-a-kind pieces picked up on her travels to coordinate with her always-stylish clothes.
But they were more than that.
Virginia, who was 102 when she died in 2023, painted each purse. Her husband, longtime banker John Cattle, cut, sanded, assembled and varnished each one in preparation for her brush.
If you wanted one of them, there were two places they were sold – a boutique in California where her purse likely became a conversation piece while she was shopping and her Seward church’s annual holiday bazaar.
This year, the Cattle family has contributed a few of those purses, as well as flowerpots, small wooden ironing boards, other wood pieces and some dishes Cattle used as canvases, for the 72nd annual Seward United Methodist Church Bazaar coordinated by the Women of Faith organization.
The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, and 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, Nov. 10, at the church, 1400 N. Fifth St.
Cattle’s artwork is a special feature for bazaar planners, who credit Cattle with suggesting the women of the church host a bazaar back in 1952, a few years after they started having bake sales and rummage sales to raise funds for church projects at Cattle’s urging.
Jeanne Gee, the unofficial leader of SUMC Team Bazaar in recent years, said Cattle was one of the women leading a similar team that kept the bazaar going over the years, first as the Seward Wesleyan Service Guild and later as United Methodist Women.
“She was good at raising money and was in charge of things,” Gee said.
Her early bazaar team included Ruth Downing and Joyce Paulsen, who are still active members of the church.
Gee is one of the women who started easing into leadership roles for the bazaar about 15 years ago. Cattle welcomed the new generation that included Gee, Connie Doehring, Diane Clark and Nancy Eitel.
“She loved the Christmas things. She loved having youth involved,” Gee said.
Cattle was always interested in seeing the crafted items submitted for the sale, and cared what the proceeds were being used for, which then included mission projects outside the congregation and occasional building projects.
The sale takes a lot of planning and preparation, and Cattle was directly involved for many years. The team members would put in a long day before the bazaar’s Saturday opening, readying products and cashiers.
“When we had set everything up on Friday, she would say ‘OK, now we will all go out for fish,' and we all went to Bee,” Gee said.
Cattle wanted team members to let go of the day’s work and get to know each other.
Her daughter, Becky Vahle, said while her mother was active in P.E.O., taught Sunday school, led Campfire groups and did other things about town, the bazaar was her priority.
She would create pieces for the sale all year.
“She would paint on anything – anything,” Vahle said.
When she could no longer paint, she knitted, still creating items for the bazaar.
Cattle family members have their own favorite pieces, and are releasing these remaining pieces at the bazaar because they believe that is what Virginia Cattle would have wanted.
Cattle always had an interest in art. Once her children, Becky and John Cattle, Jr. (Jay), were grown, she spent more and more time painting. When John and Virginia Cattle expanded their Tudor-style home, an area on the north side became her studio.
She loved seasonal decorating in general, and had a penchant for painting Santas, nutcrackers, scarecrows and other images appropriate to the calendar. For many years, her series of paintings depicting Santa Claus in the garb of varied cultures were featured along their home’s stairway. Now the grandchildren have these special paintings.
Her mother’s artistic skill came naturally, Vahle said.
Cattle studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a year and later took art classes from noted artists Reinhold Marxhausen and William Wolfram at Concordia University “just for fun.”
Some of her more detailed paintings feature pheasants, ducks and still-life settings. Vahle thinks her mother was drawn to the fine feather details and wide range of colors in the birds, requiring her eye for detail and colors, and a deft hand with the brushes.
In the 1940s, her painting of two horses placed second in the Miller and Paine Department Store’s noted regional art competition in Lincoln. But competition was not her motivation to paint.
“She could lose herself for a day painting,” Vahle said.
Vahle recalls her maternal grandmother, Gladys Clarke, and her late brother, Jay, having artistic skills, and one of her daughters, Nicole Vahle Schneider, is an artist and art teacher. Her granddaughter, Elsie Schneider, also has the family gift.
Cattle served on the board of the family’s bank for many years, but she was dedicated to her home and family. She and her husband approached all parts of their 56 years of married life as a team. He died in 1999.
“They took care of each other,” Vahle said.
They loved to entertain family and friends, and especially grandchildren, as reflected in the grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s memories shared in the program for her funeral.
When John Cattle’s business responsibilities eased, they made time to travel – and create purses – together.
“She painted right up to the time she really couldn’t see what she was doing,” Vahle said. “After Dad passed away, it was really cathartic. She got a lot of relaxation and enjoyment out of it.”
