KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A Rie Muñoz weaving hangs in the office of daughter-in-law Rep. Cathy Muñoz. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)
Casey Kelly and Lisa Phu/KTOO
Alaska artist Rie Munoz passed away Monday night of a stroke at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau. She was 93.
Munoz was known for her colorful watercolor paintings of Alaska scenes, such as fishermen at work, children at play and life in remote villages. Her paintings, prints and reproductions are in galleries throughout North America and in the homes of many Alaskans.
“She loved to travel,” said Cathy Munoz, Rie Munoz’ daughter-in-law. “She traveled all over the state and was most inspired by the people, Alaskans at work and play doing their day to day activity, especially the people in rural Alaska.
Her experience as a teacher on King Island in 1951 inspired the childrens book “King Island Christmas” written by her long-time friend Jean Rogers. Munoz illustrated the book.
Munoz was born in Southern California in 1921. Her father was a business magazine publisher and she spent parts of her childhood in Holland. She moved to Alaska in 1950.
She is survived by her son Juan, daughter-in-law Cathy, grandchildren Mercedes and Matthew, and her brother Piet Mounier, as well as a niece and two nephews.
