Cover photo for Ms. L. Keith  Claussen's Obituary
Ms. L. Keith  Claussen Profile Photo

Ms. L. Keith Claussen

April 7, 1947 — December 6, 2018

Ms. L. Keith Claussen

Sarasota, FL - Louise Keith Claussen, the first director of the Morris Museum of Art, and an active leader in the Augusta arts community for decades, died December 6, 2018 at her home on Lido Key in Sarasota, Florida.
Ms. Claussen was born on April 7, 1947, in Augusta, Georgia, the daughter of the late Henry Herman Claussen and Elisabeth Bryans Claussen. She is survived by her sisters, Elisabeth Winter Claussen of Lanse, Pa. and Anne Wilcox Claussen of Sarasota, Fl., and her brothers, John Christian Henry Claussen, III of Augusta and his wife, Frances Robinson Claussen, and Charles Iverson Claussen and his wife, Alla Vadimovna Claussen of Roswell, Ga., her nieces, Rebecca Claussen Brown (Joseph) of Tallahassee, Fl. and Galina Elisabeth Claussen of Sarasota, Fl., her nephew, Henry Herman Claussen (Cassidy) of Augusta, her grandnephew, William Shepard Brown, her grandniece, Charlotte Alyce Brown of Tallahassee, Fl. and long-time family friend, Myra Machmer of Lanse, Pa.
Ms. Claussen attended Richmond Academy and graduated from Mount Vernon Seminary and Preparatory School in Washington, D.C. She then attended the University of Georgia, and Augusta College, where she graduated with a B.A. in English in 1973. She was a talented writer and her interest in the written word began in early childhood, making it almost inevitable that her career path would lead to the field of communications, including over 40 years working with Morris Communications.
Ms. Claussen began her career as a reporter and editor for The Augusta Chronicle and Augusta Herald for 13 years. For ten of those years, she was editor of the Lively Arts and Perspective sections of the Sunday newspaper. In recent years, after a decade of service as the founding director of the Morris Museum of Art, she wrote a weekly arts column for the Chronicle and served as director of Fine Arts Publications and Manager of Fine Arts Collections for Morris Communications Company. She edited more than 30 books on the arts.
Ms. Claussen was an influential leader of Augusta's arts community for many years. She had been a member of the board of directors of the Augusta Symphony Guild, the Greater Augusta Arts Council, the Augusta College Center for the Humanities, the Augusta Opera Association, and the Gertrude Herbert Art Institute. She was past president of the Augusta Ballet, the Authors Club of Augusta, and founding president of the Junior League of Augusta Arts Endowment.
Though her main career focus was in the arts, Ms. Claussen also served the community in numerous other volunteer positions, including as a member of the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority and as a board member of the Economic Development Council, the MCG Children's Medical Center, the Tuttle Newton Home Foundation, the Richmond County Historical Society, Historic Augusta Board of Trustees, and the Leadership Augusta Executive Board.
Ms. Claussen received numerous awards and recognitions throughout her career, including the Greater Augusta Arts Council Individual Service Award, the Georgia Women in the Visual Arts honor, the Greater Augusta Arts Council Arts Professional of the Year, and the Women of Excellence award for the Arts.
After her retirement in 2015, Ms. Claussen moved to Sarasota, Florida. She loved living by the water and never tired of the sunrises over the bay and the sunsets over the gulf on Longboat Key. She thrived in her new community, making many new friends who were so kind to her during her illness and who will miss her dearly. She found fulfillment as a loyal volunteer at the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium and quickly became an important part of the dedicated volunteer team. She thoroughly enjoyed educating visitors about the resident manatees, sea turtles, and river otters. Even more, she treasured the friends on her volunteer teams as they did her. In October 2018, the staff at Mote named her Volunteer Emeritus, a rare honor and one that touched her deeply.
If so desired, memorials may be made to the Louise Keith Claussen Fund at the Morris Museum of Art (1 Tenth St. Augusta, Ga 30901, the Order of St. Helena Episcopal Convent (414 Savannah Barony Dr. North Augusta, SC 29841), or the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium (1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, Fl 34236).
The family will receive friends Friday, December 14, 2018 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Thomas Poteet & Son. A private burial will be at a later date.
Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Rd., Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 364-8484. Please sign the guestbook at www.thomaspoteet.com
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Ms. L. Keith Claussen, please visit our flower store.

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