Her ancestors left on September 6, 1841 from Santa Fe, New Mexico by horseback and pack mules on the Old Spanish Trail, then north on the El Camino Real where they settled on November 18, 1941 in Vacaville, California. The Vaca and Pena families played a prominent role in the romantic, if brief, history of Spanish California. The title to the Vaca Pena Mexican land grant, known as Los Putos, was signed by President James Buchanan on June 4, 1858. That property is now known as Vacaville, California. The Pena adobe still stands.
Her mother died shortly after Philipa’s birth, so she was raised by her Spanish speaking grandmother and two bachelor uncles in a small farm house on the outskirts of Davis, California. Spanish was always spoken at home.
All through high school she was involved in every aspect of anything that had to do with art, committees, posters and decorating. She earned a reputation as an artist, “willing and able, call Phil, has brush, will travel.”
In 1940 she attended Sacramento Junior College, which had one of the best art departments in the area, and continued on with her art studies at the California School of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. She graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in 1945.
During World War II she did volunteer work at the Oakland Naval Hospital teaching Art and Crafts to the wounded in rehabilitation.
Soon after graduation, and the war’s end, she married Charles Henschel on February 3, 1946. They moved to Princeton, Minnesota where their daughter Mary was born.
After the Korean War was over they decided to move to Southern California where they built their own home in Del Mar. Charlie passed away in 1992, but Phil continued to live in the home they built for a total of 51 years before moving to Sarasota, Florida.
During her California years she continued to paint in both watercolor and oil, mostly in the traditional style. Her paintings have received numerous awards and are in private collections around the United States.
She is survived by her daughter Mary Chadsey of Sarasota, Florida; grandson Ian Chadsey of Washington DC; granddaughter Elisabeth Chadsey of Reston, Virginia; and two great-grandchildren.
Her ancestors left on September 6, 1841 from Santa Fe, New Mexico by horseback and pack mules on the Old Spanish Trail, then north on the El Camino Real where they settled on November 18, 1941 in Vacaville, California. The Vaca and Pena families played a prominent role in the romantic, if brief, history of Spanish California. The title to the Vaca Pena Mexican land grant, known as Los Putos, was signed by President James Buchanan on June 4, 1858. That property is now known as Vacaville, California. The Pena adobe still stands.
Her mother died shortly after Philipa’s birth, so she was raised by her Spanish speaking grandmother and two bachelor uncles in a small farm house on the outskirts of Davis, California. Spanish was always spoken at home.
All through high school she was involved in every aspect of anything that had to do with art, committees, posters and decorating. She earned a reputation as an artist, “willing and able, call Phil, has brush, will travel.”
In 1940 she attended Sacramento Junior College, which had one of the best art departments in the area, and continued on with her art studies at the California School of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. She graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in 1945.
During World War II she did volunteer work at the Oakland Naval Hospital teaching Art and Crafts to the wounded in rehabilitation.
Soon after graduation, and the war’s end, she married Charles Henschel on February 3, 1946. They moved to Princeton, Minnesota where their daughter Mary was born.
After the Korean War was over they decided to move to Southern California where they built their own home in Del Mar. Charlie passed away in 1992, but Phil continued to live in the home they built for a total of 51 years before moving to Sarasota, Florida.
During her California years she continued to paint in both watercolor and oil, mostly in the traditional style. Her paintings have received numerous awards and are in private collections around the United States.
She is survived by her daughter Mary Chadsey of Sarasota, Florida; grandson Ian Chadsey of Washington DC; granddaughter Elisabeth Chadsey of Reston, Virginia; and two great-grandchildren.
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