Illsley Ball Nordstrom, 83, Generous Supporter Of The Arts

Illsley Ball Nordstrom spent a lifetime bringing beauty and culture to others in dozens of ways, from the love of painting and interior decoration she shared with her children, to the generous donations she made to museums and classical-music organizations throughout the region.

Among her acts of generosity was her $2 million donation to the new Seattle Art Museum in 1990, the largest-ever endowment gift to the museum. She also supported the Seattle Symphony and the University of Washington's Henry Art Gallery expansion.

But her giving spirit extended beyond donations to artistic causes.

Mrs. Nordstrom, the widow of Nordstrom department-store executive Lloyd Nordstrom, gave a great deal of herself in whatever she did, family and friends say.

She died Jan. 18 in Seattle after a long illness. Mrs. Nordstrom, the daughter of a paper-industry executive and a native of Walla Walla, was 83.

One of Mrs. Nordstrom's three daughters, Loyal McMillan, recalls a mother full of wit, grace and creativity. Mrs. Nordstrom painted as a hobby and loved interior decorating.

"She really passed on, in our character and personalities, a lot of who she was," McMillan said, noting that she, her sisters, and their children grew to love art and life as much as Mrs. Nordstrom did.

McMillan said a family member once described Mrs. Nordstrom, jokingly, as a Seattle version of Auntie Mame, a grand elder who was strong yet tender, worldly yet humble - and a thrower of fabulous parties.

"She made everything into an occasion somehow," McMillan recalls fondly. "She tried to find opportunities to make things special."

And she found something special in almost everyone she knew, from gardeners to corporate executives.

"I had a feeling that if you interested her, it really didn't matter who you were," says Betty Hedreen, a friend of Mrs. Nordstrom as well as her colleague on the Seattle Art Museum's board of trustees. "You really felt that you were loved."

Although Mrs. Nordstrom led a highly public life for many years, she didn't involve herself deeply in the business side of the Seahawk NFL organization, which the family sold in 1988, or the department-store chain that bears the Nordstrom name.

McMillan said her mother left those matters to her husband, who was the son of company founder John Nordstrom. After Lloyd Nordstrom died in 1976, business matters were handled by her son-in-law, John McMillan, a former Nordstrom co-chairman who is now a member of the company's executive committee.

In addition to her involvement in the arts community, Hedreen said, Mrs. Nordstrom supported young entrepreneurs and political hopefuls.

The last years of her life were spent quietly at her home north in The Highlands.

Mrs. Nordstrom is survived by her brother, Doug Ball of Seattle; her sister, Barbara Hewitt of Tacoma; daughters Loyal McMillan of Bellevue, Susan Eberhardt of California, and Linda Seifert of Bellevue; 15 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 2:30 p.m. today at St. Therese Church, 3416 E. Marion St., Seattle.

Memorials may be sent to the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Foundation, 5 Cherry Loop, The Highlands, Seattle, WA, 98177.