Hugh Charles Yorty

Hugh was born June 1, 1943, in Centerville, PA to Hugh Clay and Martha (Porter) Yorty. He graduated from Bethlehem-Center High School and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kent State University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. He had a distinguished career as a Professor of Art and Design at Missouri State University from 1967-2005, before retiring to spend more time painting, traveling, and being with his family.

Hugh was a gifted artist, critical thinker, studied reader, admirer of nature, and consummate teacher – of art and of life. He was a tireless learner and always full of questions and thoughts searching for meaning in subjects that were both complex and mundane. As a still-life painter, he expressed and explained objects, relationships, light, memory of places, and atmosphere on his canvases. Hugh’s paintings and drawings in many ways were a representation of him – trial and error, reinvention, quality, thought, honesty, and places and people he loved. He was a private person, but most of all he was a dedicated husband, caring father, and loving grandfather. The mere sight of his family would stir him with emotion.

Hugh was preceded in death by his father, Hugh; his mother, Martha; his sister, Mary Ann and his cherished wife, Faith Ann.

He is survived by his two children, Adam and Ian; four grandchildren, Emeline, Finnegan, Patrick, and Cooper and two daughters-in-law saints, Melissa and Ann-Elizabeth.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to The Hugh C. and Faith A. Yorty Award for Excellence in the Field of Painting and Drawing, online at https://www.missouristatefoundation.org/ , or by mail to Missouri State University Foundation, Kenneth E. Meyer Alumni Center, 300 South Jefferson, Suite 100, Springfield, MO 65806.