Polly Drake Pitsker

"Good Morning World!!"

Obituary

Polly Drake (DuBose) Pitsker was born in LaGrange, GA, in 1935.  She was the 2nd of 4 children born to Frank H. and Caroline Elizabeth (Bessie Drake) DuBose.  Polly's early years were spent all over the South due to Frank's career teaching Army ROTC.  At the close of WWII, the family headed west, ultimately settling in Manhattan Beach, CA, where Polly attended Redondo Union High School.  She graduated as valedictorian and received a 4-year scholarship to Pomona College in Claremont, CA, majoring in studio art.  After graduating from college in 1956, she, her older sister Frances, and a friend embarked on a 3 month adventure throughout Europe.  Upon returning home, Polly began teaching 2nd grade at Grandview Elementary School in Manhattan Beach.  In May, 1958, she met Peter Brokaw Pitsker who was playing volleyball as she walked to the beach.  They fell in love nearly instantly and spent every day together for the next 110 days until their wedding on August 30th.  Polly paused her teaching career in 1959 as Peter Drake, Amy Frances, Paul Brokaw, and John (Jack) Edwin Allen were born every 2 years.  She continued making and teaching art throughout her life in various media, including painting, drawing, textile arts and photography.  In the early 1970s, she exhibited and sold her woven wall pieces in a Florida gallery and elsewhere.  From the 1970s onward, she designed and, with her partner, fabricated stained glass windows for clients in southern Orange County, CA, including a rose window and other commissions for Saint Margaret’s Episcopal Church in San Juan Capistrano.  In the 1980s, despite having no formal training in accounting or computers, Polly engineered the transition of a construction company with big commercial and government contracts to its first computerized accounting system and continued to oversee the company’s accounting department through many upgrades as it grew.  In the 1990s and 2000s, she traveled extensively with her husband and pursued her passion for photography and digital art while living in the mountains in western NV, before finally settling back in southern CA.  She remained active and lived independently into her 90s, never losing her eye for beauty and support of family and friends.  After a brief battle with cancer, Polly died peacefully at home on August 26 2026, surrounded by her loving family.  She is survived by her husband, her sister Frances, her 4 children, and 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

In addition to being an accomplished artist, Polly was a lover of nature and animals.  An early environmentalist, she loved that her birthday, April 22nd, is now celebrated as Earth Day.  She and Pete at various times had horses, a pony, sheep, a goat, chickens, a turkey, rabbits, baby rabbits, many collies, cats, cats who had kittens, a basset hound and a huge great dane.  One day, we even had an alligator in our bathtub.  She created a nurturing and loving environment for children, family and friends to grow, explore, find shelter, and pursue their dreams.  She left a positive impact on everyone around her, greeting each day with a hopeful "Good morning world!", and remembering loved ones past and present each evening.  Polly loved nothing more than sitting on her front porch with family or friends, enjoying a snack and the afternoon breeze - or greeting neighbors and their dogs while traversing the neighborhood.  She spent her final years in service to her ailing husband and has left us with an enduring legacy in all facets of life.

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