Elaine Wagner

Elaine Stone Wagner, 83, of Spartanburg, SC, died Tuesday, April 28, 2015, at Spartanburg Medical Center. Born October 8, 1931, in Warren, PA, she was the daughter of the late Warren Moorhead and Dorothy Allison Stone, and the widow of William Sherwood Wagner. A graduate of the Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, PA, she graduated with high honors and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Degree from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, PA. After graduation, she went to New York City where she worked as a high fashion model for Hattie Carnegie, a leading American couturier house. She was then employed by Jonathan Logan as the fashion coordinator. Jonathan Logan at that time was the largest women's dress manufacturer in the world. In this job, she traveled to almost every major city in the United States giving fashion shows and promoting the Logan line in leading department stores. She also drew all of the fashion illustrations and wrote their copy which was distributed nationally by Logan. In 1962, she married William "Bill" Wagner and moved to upper New York state where the couple lived a year before moving to New Jersey. In New Jersey, Elaine found an instructor from the Art Students League in New York City and studied fine art in the form of painting for seven years. In 1970, Bill and Elaine moved to Spartanburg, SC where Elaine joined the Spartanburg County Art Association and the Artists' Guild of Spartanburg. She began to exhibit and sell her paintings, take commissions and do some commercial work. The Art Association invited her to teach in their museum school, a position she held for 20 years until retirement. The Wagner's loved to travel and visited all of the seven continents each at least twice. Many of Elaine's most popular paintings were based on her travel experiences. People and animals were her favorite subjects as well as the old buildings of the city of Spartanburg. Survivors include her brother-in-law, Jack A. Wagner; and first cousins, Samuel Allison and Elizabeth Dickey. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM Saturday, May 2, 2015, at Solid Rock Church, 1326 Union St., Spartanburg, SC 29302, conducted by the Rev. Randy Lewis. Floyd's North Church Street Chapel To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Elaine Stone Wagner please visit our Sympathy Store.