Allen “Sis” Dunnington Ohrstrom of The Plains, Virginia, died peacefully at home on August 7, 2022. She was born November 1, 1929, in New York, NY, the daughter of the late Walter Grey Dunnington, Sr., and Allen Gray Dunnington. Although born in New York, she was first and foremost a Virginian, with a deep abiding love for her ancestral home, Montebello, in Orange, Virginia.
Sis was a graduate of Chatham Hall in Chatham, VA, and Barnard College in New York where she earned a BA in Fine Arts. After college she moved to Washington, DC, where she met and married Robert Morton Rosse. They lived in the Philippines from 1954 to 1958, and in England from late 1958 to 1966.
In 1967, Sis moved with her three children to Washington, DC. The following year, she launched Architectural Art, an art gallery in Georgetown with the vision of bringing artists and sculptors together with builders and architects to make art “the soul of a building.” In subsequent years, she worked for Sotheby Parke Bernet International Realty and for Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign.
In 1985, Sis married Ricard R. Ohrstrom and moved to The Plains, Virginia. They had known each for years through Ric’s sister Maggie, a close friend from Chatham Hall. They were kindred spirits with a shared loved of foxhunting, steeplechasing, politics, and an insatiable wanderlust. Before Ric’s death in 1995, Ric and Sis travelled the world together; their annual travel itineraries were legendary.
Sis was a gifted artist in her own right who leaves behind an extensive collection of sketches and paintings from her years living abroad, her travels with Ric, and scenes from daily life. While living in London, she made several winning entries in the well-known Chelsea Art Show. She was a particularly accomplished watercolorist and some of her fondest, most relaxed times were spent taking watercolor classes in Sun Valley, Idaho, where she and Ric enjoyed summers together.
She was a spirited, vibrant, determined and generous soul whose motto “carpe diem” represented her zest for living and an always optimistic view of life. Her groaning bookshelves attest to her wide-ranging interests from art, architecture and antiques, to interior design, equestrian sports, holistic medicine, spirituality, mysticism, politics, Virginia history, land conservation and more.
Her pride and joy were her children and grandchildren, whose needs she always put first. She is survived by her son Colin Rosse and wife, Andrea, of the The Plains; her son Gray Rosse and wife, Caroline, of Charlottesville; her daughter Lesley Rosse Foster and husband, Dennis, of Charlottesville; her grandchildren: Robert Rosse and wife, Lauren; Emma Rosse and partner, Harry Snyder; India Rosse; DeLacy Rosse and fiancée, Matthew Evans; Elle Rosse; Jansen Foster and husband, Tofique Sikder; and Meg Foster; as wells as one great grandchild, Robert Benjamin Rosse, who poignantly celebrated his first birthday on the day of Sis’s passing.
Sis was buried in a private graveside service at Montebello in the family cemetery on August 22, where she was laid alongside her brother, Walter G. Dunnington, Jr., and the generations of family who preceded them. A memorial service will be held on September 22, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Orange, Virginia, at 11am, followed by a reception at Montebello.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Boys & Girls Club of Orange at PO Box 707, Charlottesville, VA 22902, or the Piedmont Environmental Council at 410 Water St E, Charlottesville, VA 22902.
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