Remembrance by Rosemary Carlton. May 20, 2025.
Irene Shuler was the first president and co-founder of the Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum. Her work began before the organization was a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) which was formed on November 13, 1985.
The first time I met Irene, I was working for the National Park Service in the early 1980s. I needed to go to the museum for a work-related visit. The museum staffs’ office was temporarily set up in part of the foyer as the collection storage and offices were being built. The gallery restoration had been completed, but the rest was pretty much a construction site. However, there was a small case left over from the old building that had a few pieces of ivory, books, some beading, and maybe a few other items for sale. Irene stopped in that first summer on cruise ship days to sell to visitors. There was talk of a Friends group, and Irene stepped up to the job of recruiting members and becoming president.
Irene started the paperwork to make the organization a nonprofit, and by 1985, the process had been completed. She then made sure there would be someone to make the shop keep growing. Carolyn Servid was hired to manage the shop and all business activities.
Irene made sure the organization kept members happy and satisfied with how the Friends supported the museum. She also made sure the staff was happy! For Christmas, she stopped by with a little eggnog and cookies. She popped in often to talk silver with Peter Corey. Both had growing collections of Northwest Coast spoons and jewelry. It was great hearing them talk about details of artists and their work. She and Pete later put together a “finding aid” of silver carvers. This helped identify styles and techniques so future curators and shop managers could more easily identify the artists who made them.
She initiated summer picnics, so the Friends stayed connected during the months when there were no meetings. A favorite was a pig roast she and her husband, Kaye Dethridge, would do for their wide circle of family and friends, and include Friends of SJM. A piglet was roasted with a turkey inside, which held a chicken, maybe a game hen, inside to finish it off. It was a great party at their home on the beach.
Irene always remembered staff birthdays and surprised me at the first monthly meeting after I finished my masters’ program in museum studies with a cake and congratulations.
When Irene announced she would not put her name forward to be president in the late 1990s, we were all terrified! She built and kept the organization going for so long that it was hard to imagine what would happen. Fortunately, a very capable person, Brad Shaffer, who learned much from Irene, took over the position. Irene was a joy to have as the Friends president and as a personal friend. She will be missed by all who knew her.