The Life of Elizabeth Lauer
Elizabeth Urian Lauer, formerly of Wayne, passed away on February 10, 2017, at Dunwoody Village in Newtown Square, at the age of 96. Known to friends as “Libby,” she was born on July 10, 1920. Libby grew up in Wayne, an expert in table tennis and field hockey. As a little girl, she built her own playhouse out of pilfered materials from the house under construction next door. She and a friend snatched silver trays from the dining room to go sledding on snowy days. Libby prepped at Miss Wright’s, Bryn Mawr, and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (and the associated Illman School), where her fraternity was Kappa Kappa Gamma. She was a member of the Penn Glee Club which sang frequently with the Philadelphia Orchestra. After Penn, Libby was an administrator and teacher at psychologist and innovator Lightner Witmer’s Devon residential school for special needs children. Libby was a lifelong member of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, forever quoting the wisdom of Dr. Mutch. She was a past president of the Junior Saturday Club in Wayne and treasurer of the Brooke Valley Conservancy. An avid gardener and garden club member, she specialized in roses. A member of the Radnor Historical Society, Libby was an authority on the history of the area. She enjoyed collecting antiques and was thrilled to donate to Winterthur a Baltimore album quilt that came down to her from a family collection. For years, every day that weather permitted, she walked the two-mile round trip to downtown Wayne and back. If not on foot, one would find her always behind the wheel of a convertible. Libby was known for her arts and crafts skills, especially in ceramics and needlepoint. She was an expert crossword puzzle solver and was frequently called upon by friends for help. Insatiably curious, Libby was a keen observer of nature, keeping careful track of the singular white deer who once prowled fields of South Wayne. From red-tailed hawks to black-capped chickadees, she was a dedicated birder. She “adopted” a mating pair of wild ducks who returned to a pond across the street from her house every spring. When the ducks became accustomed to appearing at her back door for afternoon treats, Libby feared for their safety in crossing busy Brooke Road – hence she thought nothing of standing in the road and stopping traffic while the ducks waddled across. The stock market and investments were another great area of interest, and she devoured annual reports and attended annual meetings with the savvy of a corporate leader. Pharmaceutical stocks were a favorite and she was as knowledgeable as any physician or scientist about new discoveries in the field. A financial wizard, she even relished working on her quarterly income tax returns. She was predeceased by her parents, Ethel Urian Lauer and William Henry Lauer, as well as by her brother, William Henry Lauer, Jr. Graveside services will be held at West Laurel Cemetery on Thursday, February 16 at 11am. Memorial contributions may be made to Bryn Mawr Presbyterian or to the Radnor Historical Society. STUARD–ARDMORE SINCE 1822
Published in Main Line Media News on Feb. 19, 2017
Published in Main Line Media News on Feb. 19, 2017