Illsley Ball Nordstrom Dies At 83

Illsley Ball Nordstrom spent a lifetime bringing beauty and culture to others in dozens of ways, from the love of painting and interior decoration she shared with her children, to the generous donations she made to museums and classical-music organizations throughout the region.

Among her acts of generosity was her $2 million donation to the new Seattle Art Museum in 1990, the largest-ever endowment gift to the museum. She also supported the Seattle Symphony and the University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery expansion.

Nordstrom, the widow of Nordstrom department-store executive Lloyd Nordstrom, died Thursday in Seattle after a long illness. Nordstrom, the daughter of a paper-industry executive and a native of Walla Walla, was 83.

Although Nordstrom led a highly public life for many years, she didn’t involve herself deeply in the business side of the Seattle Seahawks National Football League franchise, which the family sold in 1988, or the department-store chain that bears the Nordstrom name.

She left those matters to her husband, the son of company founder John Nordstrom. After Lloyd Nordstrom died in 1976, business matters were handled by her son-in-law, John McMillan, a former Nordstrom co-chairman who is now a member of the company’s executive committee.