After a fire destroyed her frame shop and art gallery last fall, Joyce Gottbreht with sheer determination reopened the remodeled building in Madras.

”I was devastated and couldn’t understand why someone would want to burn down an art gallery,” she said. ”But the Madras Fire Department was terrific. They were on the scene immediately and not only saved most of the building, but many of the paintings in the gallery.”

Gottbreht worked for Juniper Custom Framing and Gallery before buying the business at Sixth and ”B” streets about a year ago.

This Madras woman has worn many hats in a life that began in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. She began her career nursing while getting married and raising five children. At the same time, she also owned a hardware store.

Then she went into the Civil Service as a senior officer for the Department of Health and Social Security. She retired from civil service after one of her sons died in 1978. Needing healing from her tremendous loss, she moved to the English countryside to recuperate and regroup. Earlier in 1962 she lost her only daughter.

”The country stillness and the animals grounded me,” she explains. ”There was a field of sheep behind us and I found solace watching them. Also, the yard full of hens and geese was soothing to me.”

In 1980 she visited friends in Canada and at the same time came to the states to visit friends of her oldest son. She met her second husband and moved to Gresham where her youngest son Phillip joined her in 1985.

During her years in Gresham she was a member of the Soroptimists Club and sold Tupperware and Avon for a couple of years.

She worked with her husband, Donald, and stepson John at an indoor shooting range in Clackamas until moving to Central Oregon in 1989.

Liking the outdoors and being bird watchers and caretakers, the couple settled at the Three River Recreation Area 20 miles west of Madras. There was no electricity in that development, so they used a generator and solar energy. Gottbreht didn’t mind roughing it, but when her husband died in 1998, she moved to Madras.

Not being a woman who likes to be idle, she has found a number of community endeavors to fill her already busy life.

Gottbreht has been active in the Madras community serving on the Jefferson Planning Commission for eight years. She is a member of the Economic Development Team for Jefferson County, a member of the Prison Advisory Commission, the Madras Truancy Board, Future Focus Group and Community Dispute Resolution Executive Board serving as secretary of the local Advisory Board in Madras.

She also serves on the board of HAABLA and has volunteered her time at the County Building Department entering data for the county.

Making Three-D paper tole pictures is her way of relaxation and she has several on display at her gallery. Using florals and birds for 3-D paper tole framing she utilizes layers to highlight that special family photo or memorable event.

She carries local artist’s work on consignment in her gallery along with her framing and art supplies.

”I admire anyone who can make the paint brush say something and bring the strokes to life,” she says in her very English accent.