By Elizabeth Diane Mack
Hoarding Hid This Artist’s Exceptional Work After my mother-in-law died, we discovered remarkable surprises
When my 78-mother-in-law, DeAnne Mack, died suddenly in 2018, the chore of cleaning out the Omaha, Neb. house she’d lived in for over 50 years fell to my husband and me. We weren’t looking forward to it. DeAnne, we knew, had been hoarding for decades. For my husband, the task of sifting through piles of his mother’s possessions — at first sight, mostly dime store junk and trash — unearthed long-held feelings of shame, embarrassment and anger. DeAnne’s hoarding had been a constant battle between the two of them for years. There was begging, threats and finally, punishment when my husband and his sister stopped visiting the home they’d grown up in.
the mountains of junk. As they worked, though, they began discovering handmade quilts in various stages, a few complete, most half-done.
A winning piece by talented quilter and artist DeAnne Mack
DeAnne fell somewhere north of a “Level 2” hoarder: a few rooms unusable; piles stacked on furniture; overflowing trash cans; rotting food; mild odors; evidence of insect infestation. And the stage of grief we experienced after her death mimicked her hoarding level. We were firmly stuck in Stage 2 — anger (laced with guilt). In the back of our minds, we always knew one day we’d be left to clean up the house. But we’d hoped DeAnne
22 BOOM!
March 2020
First one, then two, then four, and soon, a dozen. The bedspread-size quilts DeAnne had started lay unfinished in piles on floors. First-place ribbons from local quilt shows were pinned on many, tiny labels, “Handmade by DeAnne,” carefully sewn into back corners.
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might miraculously change before that day came. We didn’t understand that this just wasn’t possible.
And then, it turned out, there were more than just quilts.
The Remarkable Surprises Inside Her House
The first few days after the funeral, the family sifted through layers upon layers of trash, filling a large dumpster but barely making a dent in the house. Then, something incredible happened.
Some of DeAnne Mack’s fabric from the estate sale
A friend of my mother-in-law’s offered to bring in an estate sale team she volunteered for through the local Kiwanis chapter. Once we had the worst of the trash out, they began the slow task of sorting the salvageable possessions from
Many of DeAnne’s intricately detailed fiber art wall hangings lay buried on couches. They featured Asian geishas, Amish farm scenes, city skylines and hens and chicks.
A Hidden, Enormous Collection of Quilts and Paintings
While we knew DeAnne had belonged to several local quilt groups, we had brushed off her hobby as just another avenue for her hoarding. For Christmases and birthdays, she would often gift
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