Gaye Lynne LaGuire

on Friday, Dec. 30, 2022, at Renown Hospice in Reno, Nv. She had reached the golden age of 84 years, and lived with her husband in Dayton, Nv. Gaye Lynne was born in Petoskey, Michigan, on June 29, 1938. She was the first-born child of her loving parents, Maren Loken LaGuire, and H. Carlos LaGuire. The family soon moved to Traverse City, Mich, where Carlos supervised CCC youth camps. As Gaye Lynne reached the age of 2½, her family joyously welcomed her younger brother, Gary Lane LaGuire, into the family. The two would be close confidants for a life-time.

Gaye Lynne was a quiet and introspective child, who enjoyed seeing her father pursue his spare time occupation as an artist, primarily painting with oils. This would prove to be a fundamental building block for Gaye Lynne, as she soon knew that she had to become

an artist, like her father.

In the Summer of 1941, three year old Gaye Lynne met the son of her mother’s best

friend, two year old Stephen Backhus. The two would begin a friendship that lasted for the

next 80 years (and that story will conclude this Notice). The young people met every other Summer at the LaGuire family’s cottage on beautiful Ford Lake, in western Michigan.

Gaye Lynne’s mother, & Stephen’s mother (Milda Barvicks Backhus) had gone to school together in Fountain, Mich, and near-by Ludington, Mich, becoming fast friends for life.

In 1955, Gaye Lynne’s, & her family’s life was severely impacted by the sudden illness

and tragic passing away of her father, Carlos(from cancer). The family had moved to the town of Trenton, Mich, where Carlos had worked for a local chemical company. Losing her best guide for her desire to pursue her dream of becoming an artist did not stop Gaye Lynne from that goal. She graduated from Slocum Truax High School located in Trenton, Mich, in 1956, and she was immediately accepted into the Fine Arts Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her training as an artist began in earnest.

She lived on campus in the famous Martha Cook women’s dormitory, becoming a life-long member of the ‘Cookies’ brigade, and receiving, even a few weeks before she passed

away, the latest bulletin from that Alumnae group. And, during her time at Uof M, she met a handsome architecture student named Joseph Cox. Shortly after her graduation, with a

Masters Degree in Fine Arts, she and Joseph were married, and immediately embarked on an adventurous move to the Golden State of California.

There, Gaye Lynne became an Art Teacher at a local high school in Thousand Oaks, Ca,

while husband, Joe, began designing buildings for various important entities in the area.

It was then, that the couple bought a lot, in Thousand Oaks, where they intended to build their own residence, which Joe designed. The couple actually built the home themselves, by

hand, for the most part, and because of Joe’s unique concept of ‘prefabrication’, had the

entire frame put up in one day, to the astonishment of the few neighbors there in the early 1960’s.

After several years, Gaye Lynne became pregnant, & presented her husband with their brilliant son, Gregory Dustin Cox, born on Nov. 15, 1969. The family lived in their unique home, Joe carrying out his architectural practice, and after a few years of stay-at-home motherhood, Gaye Lynne began teaching art again, and began to take on portrait work for

various distinguished clients. Unfortunately, her marriage to Joe came to a sad end, & she

was set out on her own, to survive on her art talent and accomplishments.

She obtained a position with a local community college, as their evening art Instructor, and began to attend a local church, Calvary Community, in Westlake. There, she began to understand that her exceptional talent as a portrait artist would best be applied by creating

images of the Lord Jesus, & she embraced the task of doing portraits of Jesus. She began

a series to illustrate various verses in the Bible, starting with, the, “I AM”, verse from the

Gospel of Mark(14:62). Then, she was compelled to paint her most famous work, from the

Gospel of John(10:14), “The Good Shepherd”. Her images were so well received that they

became a world-wide phenomenon, with thousands of copies sent everywhere.

As her life progressed, her son, Gregory, now an adult, reconnected with her, after the passing of his father, Joseph. Gregory attended University of California at Santa Barbara,

majoring in Biological Science. And it was at this time she, now in her 60’s, rekindled her friendship with her childhood friend, Stephen. He was, unfortunately for Gaye Lynne, not

available for them to be a couple, but their friendship was renewed, and when Stephen’s mother passed away, in 1997, the two returned to regular communication with each other.

But it would be, literally, another 20+ years before all the circumstances were right for

them to finally become a couple. In fact, they reconnected for good, on the anniversary of

his mother’s birthday, in 2018. From that time forward, the two grew closer and closer, so that Stephen proposed, and Gaye Lynne accepted, his offer of marriage, completing the circle that had begun in 1941.

Gaye Lynne & Stephen were married on April 20, 2019, at her ‘Springs Of Life’ church

in Casitas Springs, Ca, with her son, Gregory and his mate, Janice, in attendance. The two

began, at last, the relationship that had eluded them for decades. They moved to Stephen’s home, in Western Nevada, and finally had the fulfillment of their 80-year-long saga come to fruition. The next three years were filled with joyous togetherness, until, in the Summer of 2022, Gaye Lynne began to have medical complications set in. The couple went from one doctor visit to another, to determine what was wrong. She became weaker and weaker from her condition, which was finally determined to be a fast-growing cancer. In late December, unable to eat or move on her own, she was admitted to the hospital to assess if anything could be done to alleviate her worsening condition. Despite heroic actions by the medical personnel at the hospital, Gaye Lynne did not improve. Her husband, Stephen, called her son, Gregory, who was now a successful computer entrepreneur, living in the State of New York, and let him know her condition. Gregory was able to get a flight out of NYC, that night, to be at his mother’s side. Gaye Lynne’s face lit up with delight when she realized that her Gregory was there at the hospital for her. And she was content to know that Gregory & Stephen were at her bedside for her each day. Her condition became dire over the next few days, and Stephen & Gregory reluctantly admitted her to the ‘hospice care’ unit of the hospital. She passed away five days later.

Gaye Lynne LaGuire is survived by her husband, Stephen Eugene Backhus, her son, Gregory Dustin Cox, and a number of relatives of the LaGuire and Loken families, located across the USA, though primarily in their beloved home State of Michigan. Gaye Lynne will be interred at Stephen’s plot in the Garden Cemetary, Gardnerville, Nevada. A small service will be conducted at the time of burial. Gaye Lynne LaGuire left us all a legacy of beautiful paintings, portraits, landscapes, and Christian Art. Relatives of hers have made a website, dedicated to remembering her work. Any who wish to, can access that website at the following web address: http://gayelynnelaguire.art/