Foster Hjalmar Nystrom, age 102, passed away on October 24, 2015 at Sweet Brook Care Center in Williamstown, MA. Born in Waltham, MA in 1913 to Swedish parents, he attended Mass. College of Art and the Pratt Institute, and worked at Russ Craft Cards in Boston until enlisting in the Army during World War II.
An avid skier, Foster volunteered for the 10th Mt.Division, going to Northern Italy, where he conducted reconnaissance, and built model sand tables of the mountains for strategic planning with top brass. He was decorated with the Bronze Star as a Master Sergeant. After the war, he married Edna Stromberg in 1946, moved to Lincoln, MA, and became Assistant Director of the De Cordova Museum and head of their Art School for 25 years.
Foster then moved to Orleans, MA on Cape Cod, where he taught landscape watercolor painting to students at his own studio and at the Cape Cod Conservatory in Barnstable. His watercolors have been shown in many galleries, and are appreciated in private collections. Foster enjoyed people, and was known for his quick wit and easy sense of humor. A prolific artist, he also worked on several antique cars, and was fond of hiking, cooking, dogs, music, and wearing bowties and hats, especially his signature beret.
He leaves behind his children Cynthia McFarland of Williamstown MA, Paul Nystrom of Powell OH, and Joyce Powell of Newry, ME. Also his grandchildren Andrew Foster Powell, Stephen Nystrom, Jeffrey Powell, Alexis Nystrom, and great grandson James Foster Nystrom. He was predeceased by his two sisters, Lillian Frail and Audrey Johnson and great granddaughter Caroline Nystrom.
There will be a memorial service at Nickerson Funeral Home in Orleans, MA on November 14, 2015 at 2pm. Donations may be made to Perkins School for the Blind, and the Orleans Rescue Squad. The family sincerely thanks all those who cared for Foster in hospitals, Sweet Brook Center, and the Orleans Rescue Squad.
For online condolences, please visit www.nickersonfunerals.com.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.11.3