Hanna Lore Hombordy

Beloved by family and friends, Hanna Lore Hombordy, age 89, of Kettering, OH passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 10, 2016. Hanna was born in Rahway, NJ. Her parents were immigrants from Silesia, Germany. She was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), with honors, from the School of Art and Design, Pratt Institute, New York. Before and during her first few years of marriage to Edward Hombordy, her main occupation was in the field of creative design and graphic arts. She was employed as a designer by General Electric Co. in the Appearance and Design department, Houbigant, Inc. doing packaging design, and Assistant Art Director for advertising agencies in New York doing catalog design, newspaper ads, and illustrations. She then worked as a freelance graphic artist and had teaching positions in Alabama, California, Delaware, New Jersey, Japan, and Puerto Rico. She settled in Ventura, California in 1973 where she lived the next 42 years and worked in her home studio creating clay, sculpture and vessels as well as decorative custom tiles and house numbers. She did research and experimental work in clay and uncommon fine art materials such as expanded polystyrene foam. Hanna entered her work in local, state, and national shows. She participated in twenty national juried shows and in 1987 she received the Monarch Best Tile Award. She won an Award of Merit at the California State Fair. Locally, she received numerous awards, among them 1st place awards in the Thousand Oaks City Competition, the Oxnard Art Association Competition, the Ventura Assembly of the Arts and the Ventura County Fair. She had over 15 solo exhibits in the southern California area. Hanna also made regular contributions of documentary articles and photographs to several ceramics publications. Some magazine articles are: Ceramics Monthly (1978, 1991, 2004), Ceramic Review (1993), Pottery Making Illustrated (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010) and Clay Times (2000, 2001). Some published work in books are Handmade Tiles: Designing, Decorating (1993), Resist and Masking Techniques (1996), Handbuilt Ceramics: Pinching, Coiling, Extruding, Molding (2000), Creative Ideas for Clay Artists (2001), Surface Decoration: Finishing Techniques (2008), Ceramic Projects: Forming Techniques (2011), and Image & Design Transfer Techniques (2015). Her work is also shown in 500 Tiles and Best of 500 Ceramics. Her collection in the Smithsonian National Design Museum, documents Hanna's work as a graphic designer in the late 1940s and 1950s while employed at A.W. Lewin, General Electric, and Houbigant, Inc. and includes booklets: "Elements of Design" (1953-54); "Appearance Design" (1954); packaging and label designs and prototypes, photographs of drawing machinery, clippings, and misc. designs and printed advertisements for shoes, antennas, and candies. Hanna enjoyed traveling, walking in natural settings, reading, sewing, and listening to classical music. Hanna was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Fritzi. Hanna is survived by her daughters, Ann and Jane (Kirk), grandchildren, Ariel and Artie, and her cousins in Germany and New Zealand. The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the staff at Hospice of Dayton and her personal aides, Linda, Anna, and Alisha, for the excellent care they gave to Hanna. Services will be held in Ventura, California at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her name to Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45420.

Funeral Home:
Kettering Routsong Funeral Home
2100 E. Stroop Rd.
Kettering, OH
US 45429