Home decorator taught classes for three decades

By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Thursday, June 21, 2007 7:29 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- For more than 30 years, Barbara Ganz taught an adult education class at MiraCosta College that people found hard to resist.

Essentially, it could have been titled "Let's Decorate and Shop," daughter Laura Holtan recalled.

Cardiff resident Adrienne Cooper enjoyed it so much, she took it three times and eventually hired Ganz for a home renovation project.

"She was a true friend," Cooper said Thursday. "It was not just a business arrangement. It was like family .... she took the step further than most people."

Ganz, who died June 15 at age 72 of uterine cancer, "was a very free spirt and I'm glad she came into my life," Cooper said.

Retired Dr. Noory Masliyah, who also took one of the design courses, hired Ganz to help him figure out what to do with the front entrance of his La Jolla home. He wanted to move the doorway, but that proved too costly. So Ganz told him to give the interior of his home a face-lift instead.

"It was a very good move," he said.

She helped him buy furniture, curtains and wallpaper. She even hung photographs. And, he successfully sold his home.

She had a knack for knowing what would look good, but she also was quick to tell folks things she didn't like.

"We disagreed on one thing," Cooper said. "She hated my Indian art, and she was not afraid to tell me. She called a spade a spade. You always knew where she stood."

Ganz's own home had an eclectic look ---- Cooper describes it as being a throwback to the 1960s.

Her husband of 52 years admits they had their disagreements about decorating. A retired professor who taught art at MiraCosta College, Howard Ganz reworked the family living room so it had a round wall on one side and floor-to-ceiling windows on another. He wanted it that way so it could better display his artwork.

"We never could agree on putting curtains or blinds on those windows ... so we never put any up," he said.

On sunny days, the light in the room was intense and "Barbara's solution was to put up a beach umbrella."

Yes, a huge umbrella ---- right in the middle room.

"Our house is not the same as the stuff she designed for other people," he added.

Ganz came to her interest in decorating through her study of drama. A native of Cleveland, she studied theater at Kent State University for several years.

She didn't obtain a degree then, but returned to college when her daughter Laura started. Both of them majored in drama, and they graduated together from San Diego State University in 1978, Laura recalled.

Laura's sister Donna also participated in that ceremony, though technically she was graduating from the UC Santa Barbara. She got special permission so they could make it a family event, Laura recalled.

Ganz acted in several plays, but enjoyed stage designs and costumes too, her family recalled.

"She loved everything theatrical," Laura said, commenting that Halloween was a favorite family holiday.

And her mom wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. When she wasn't redecorating rooms and arranging flowers, she loved ocean fishing.

She'd bring simple fishing equipment and a garbage bag, "and she'd be catching all the fish," impressing the men on the boat with fancy equipment, her daughter said.

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.