Colleen Beryl White
September 4, 1937 – June 13, 2021
Colleen Beryl White crossed to the light on the evening of June 13, 2021. Born September 4, 1937, to Ellis and Inga White of Bremerton, WA. Colleen grew up in Bremerton learning much about homesteading and frugal living from her parents.
Colleen moved to Seattle in 1955 where she attended art classes at University of Washington. She later worked for the University and sold many pieces of her art by displaying them above her desk. For Colleen, painting became the core of who she was.
In the early 1970s she drove around the country, an epic journey from Seattle to LA, across the Southern states, up the East Coast, and across Southern Canada; taking many photos along the way, which later inspired her paintings.
Living in Port Angeles for several years, she organized two Native American Arts Festivals in Queets, and later on, logged her land and built a cabin in Irondale, leading to a renowned court case against Jefferson County, under the pen name of Liberty Hawk, for the rights of property owners to build on their own land. Colleen also stood up against corporate wrongdoing by building a case against a prominent Seattle company and at a medical collections department. After building her cabin, Colleen returned to school, earning a B.A. from Evergreen State College. While at Evergreen, she wrote a manuscript for a book focused on developing a person’s self-worth.
In 1996 Colleen had the opportunity to buy a used bookstore. This bookstore later became Unicorn HQ on Rhody Drive in Port Hadlock. Over the course of almost 25 years, Colleen touched the lives of thousands of people through her paintings, as well as astrology and Tarot readings.
Colleen is survived by her children; Anne, Michael (wife Noriko and daughter Tiona), Patricia (daughter Tanya, son Bryan, father to Parker), Caroline (husband Bill and daughter Ellie).
Above all, Colleen was an artist, she left a legacy of artwork depicting Pacific Northwest landscapes, images of inner reflection, and metaphysical ideas. So many of her paintings are scattered near and far - if you have one of her pieces, her family is asking for photos of them, please.
Colleen was a complicated person to understand, eccentric in quite valuable ways. She will be missed by many, remembered by many more, and will continue to live on in our hearts.