Elizabeth Sheely Weiser was born in the southeastern Pennsylvania town of Hanover in 1904. She was the daughter of Viola Grace Tanger and John Abraham Sheely, a former magistrate and schoolteacher. Her father was originally from New Oxford, Pa, where his family were retailers. Her mother's family ran Tanger's Drygoods in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Hanover High School and Hood College in Frederick, Maryland where she studied French and English. She was raised in the Reformed church (today the United Church of Christ). At Hood College she became president of her class. A picture from that era shows a young Elizabeth Sheely Weiser and a group of college friends sitting in a field smoking pipes.
Until her marriage to Donald Koehler Weiser, she worked as a school teacher in Shinglehouse, Pennsylvania. When her husband was transferred to Chicago, where he was General Manager of Aetna Life and Casualty, she lived in Oak Park before they built a home in suburban Glen Ellyn. There she and her family lived for many years at 682 Oak Street in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where she once served as a village trustee.
Later, she moved with her husband to Philadelphia and finally back to his hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where they lived on Old Mill Road in a stone home facing Gettysburg Country Club. A member of St. James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Weiser had two children: Harriette Weiser Russell and the Reverend Frederick Sheely Weiser. Her grandchildren include Craig Howard Russell and Mark Weiser Russell.
As a side note, it might be added that Elizabeth Weiser had a contagious smile and a heart for those less fortunate than she. In Gettysburg, she often called on residents at the Lutheran Home for the Aged. While her husband Donald K. Weiser was a staunch Republican who loathed the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I suspect Elizabeth Weiser voted secretly for the Democratic Party, to which her parents belonged. In fact, in the 1970's,I recall her once expressing admiration for Hubert Humphrey, who was anything but a social conservative.
Elizabeth Weiser enjoyed knitting, playing cards, drinking an occasional scotch on the rocks, eating seafood, and attending church. She read Time, Reader's Digest, and the Bible regularly and often talked about her youth in Hanover. Her husband's income allowed her to travel extensively, and after his retirement, they spent winters in Florida. Shortly before her death, she was able to visit Hawaii, where her sister Harriette was buried. Elizabeth Weiser's siblings included Harriette Sheely Lindsay who died in Hawaii, Edward Sheely of Millersburg, Pennsylvania, and Harry Sheely of St. Petersburg, Florida, who died at age 94 in 2009.
(Special thanks to Amy Hunt for taking the photographs of the Weiser graves in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.)
Until her marriage to Donald Koehler Weiser, she worked as a school teacher in Shinglehouse, Pennsylvania. When her husband was transferred to Chicago, where he was General Manager of Aetna Life and Casualty, she lived in Oak Park before they built a home in suburban Glen Ellyn. There she and her family lived for many years at 682 Oak Street in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where she once served as a village trustee.
Later, she moved with her husband to Philadelphia and finally back to his hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where they lived on Old Mill Road in a stone home facing Gettysburg Country Club. A member of St. James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Weiser had two children: Harriette Weiser Russell and the Reverend Frederick Sheely Weiser. Her grandchildren include Craig Howard Russell and Mark Weiser Russell.
As a side note, it might be added that Elizabeth Weiser had a contagious smile and a heart for those less fortunate than she. In Gettysburg, she often called on residents at the Lutheran Home for the Aged. While her husband Donald K. Weiser was a staunch Republican who loathed the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I suspect Elizabeth Weiser voted secretly for the Democratic Party, to which her parents belonged. In fact, in the 1970's,I recall her once expressing admiration for Hubert Humphrey, who was anything but a social conservative.
Elizabeth Weiser enjoyed knitting, playing cards, drinking an occasional scotch on the rocks, eating seafood, and attending church. She read Time, Reader's Digest, and the Bible regularly and often talked about her youth in Hanover. Her husband's income allowed her to travel extensively, and after his retirement, they spent winters in Florida. Shortly before her death, she was able to visit Hawaii, where her sister Harriette was buried. Elizabeth Weiser's siblings included Harriette Sheely Lindsay who died in Hawaii, Edward Sheely of Millersburg, Pennsylvania, and Harry Sheely of St. Petersburg, Florida, who died at age 94 in 2009.
(Special thanks to Amy Hunt for taking the photographs of the Weiser graves in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.)
Elizabeth Sheely Weiser was born in the southeastern Pennsylvania town of Hanover in 1904. She was the daughter of Viola Grace Tanger and John Abraham Sheely, a former magistrate and schoolteacher. Her father was originally from New Oxford, Pa, where his family were retailers. Her mother's family ran Tanger's Drygoods in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Hanover High School and Hood College in Frederick, Maryland where she studied French and English. She was raised in the Reformed church (today the United Church of Christ). At Hood College she became president of her class. A picture from that era shows a young Elizabeth Sheely Weiser and a group of college friends sitting in a field smoking pipes.
Until her marriage to Donald Koehler Weiser, she worked as a school teacher in Shinglehouse, Pennsylvania. When her husband was transferred to Chicago, where he was General Manager of Aetna Life and Casualty, she lived in Oak Park before they built a home in suburban Glen Ellyn. There she and her family lived for many years at 682 Oak Street in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where she once served as a village trustee.
Later, she moved with her husband to Philadelphia and finally back to his hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where they lived on Old Mill Road in a stone home facing Gettysburg Country Club. A member of St. James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Weiser had two children: Harriette Weiser Russell and the Reverend Frederick Sheely Weiser. Her grandchildren include Craig Howard Russell and Mark Weiser Russell.
As a side note, it might be added that Elizabeth Weiser had a contagious smile and a heart for those less fortunate than she. In Gettysburg, she often called on residents at the Lutheran Home for the Aged. While her husband Donald K. Weiser was a staunch Republican who loathed the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I suspect Elizabeth Weiser voted secretly for the Democratic Party, to which her parents belonged. In fact, in the 1970's,I recall her once expressing admiration for Hubert Humphrey, who was anything but a social conservative.
Elizabeth Weiser enjoyed knitting, playing cards, drinking an occasional scotch on the rocks, eating seafood, and attending church. She read Time, Reader's Digest, and the Bible regularly and often talked about her youth in Hanover. Her husband's income allowed her to travel extensively, and after his retirement, they spent winters in Florida. Shortly before her death, she was able to visit Hawaii, where her sister Harriette was buried. Elizabeth Weiser's siblings included Harriette Sheely Lindsay who died in Hawaii, Edward Sheely of Millersburg, Pennsylvania, and Harry Sheely of St. Petersburg, Florida, who died at age 94 in 2009.
(Special thanks to Amy Hunt for taking the photographs of the Weiser graves in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.)
Until her marriage to Donald Koehler Weiser, she worked as a school teacher in Shinglehouse, Pennsylvania. When her husband was transferred to Chicago, where he was General Manager of Aetna Life and Casualty, she lived in Oak Park before they built a home in suburban Glen Ellyn. There she and her family lived for many years at 682 Oak Street in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where she once served as a village trustee.
Later, she moved with her husband to Philadelphia and finally back to his hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where they lived on Old Mill Road in a stone home facing Gettysburg Country Club. A member of St. James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg and the Daughters of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Weiser had two children: Harriette Weiser Russell and the Reverend Frederick Sheely Weiser. Her grandchildren include Craig Howard Russell and Mark Weiser Russell.
As a side note, it might be added that Elizabeth Weiser had a contagious smile and a heart for those less fortunate than she. In Gettysburg, she often called on residents at the Lutheran Home for the Aged. While her husband Donald K. Weiser was a staunch Republican who loathed the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, I suspect Elizabeth Weiser voted secretly for the Democratic Party, to which her parents belonged. In fact, in the 1970's,I recall her once expressing admiration for Hubert Humphrey, who was anything but a social conservative.
Elizabeth Weiser enjoyed knitting, playing cards, drinking an occasional scotch on the rocks, eating seafood, and attending church. She read Time, Reader's Digest, and the Bible regularly and often talked about her youth in Hanover. Her husband's income allowed her to travel extensively, and after his retirement, they spent winters in Florida. Shortly before her death, she was able to visit Hawaii, where her sister Harriette was buried. Elizabeth Weiser's siblings included Harriette Sheely Lindsay who died in Hawaii, Edward Sheely of Millersburg, Pennsylvania, and Harry Sheely of St. Petersburg, Florida, who died at age 94 in 2009.
(Special thanks to Amy Hunt for taking the photographs of the Weiser graves in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.)
