Mary Lou Fendall Rose Mural - Portland, OR
N 45° 31.284 W 122° 41.215
10T E 524450 N 5040921
This faded mural of a rose and United States flag are on the Morrison Plaza Building.
Waymark Code: WMGVT6
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2013
Views: 4
Portland is nicknamed "The City of Roses" and over the years, this has been used as a tourism motto, used for logos, and so on. At one time, there were numerous murals around Portland and the surrounding cities, that featured roses. Some of these are still viewable, but they are quickly becoming scarce as the walls are either torn down or painted over, and those that do survive, are becoming sadly faded, like this nice mural on the side of the Morrison Plaza building at 1411 SW Morrison in Portland.
The building itself was built in 1956 and the mural has the date 1995, along with these words: Mary Lou Fendall Rose, "A friend who takes time to care is an angel unaware." and near the United States flag that is a part of the mural, these words: United in Freedom.
The quote "A friend who takes time to care is an angel unaware." is an offshoot of the bible verse from Hebrews 13:2 and possibly a reference to the Christian background of Mary Lou (Helmer) Fendall, who was a daughter of John Helmer Sr & Emmy Lou Emanuelsson who emigrated from Sweden to Oregon and established a clothing store named John Helmer Haberdasher, where their children Mary Lou and John Jr worked and all became well known in the community. Son John Helmer Jr. was very active in sports (he was Oregon State Jr. Road Race Champion in 1939 and was well known for riding his bike all over Portland, delivering packages to customers). Although I can not locate any history on Mary Lou that is significant, I can surmise that she was a garden enthusiast, since it appears from this mural that a rose was named in her honor.
In 2006, OregonLive.com featured an "extra" publicaton that included a poster of 21 rose murals around Portland along with their names and addresses. (check out the link provided below).
City: Portland, OR
Location Name: Morrison Plaza
Artist: None provided on the mural.
Date: 1995
Media: Paint on concrete
Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
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