Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: July 1986 Volume 24 Number 3, Page 121

In Memoriam : Elizabeth Rumrill

Page 121

Frances Elizabeth Rumrill, for the past three years corresponding secretary of the Club, passed away at her home on Conestoga Road in Berwyn on April 26, 1986, after a long illness. She had just reached her 85th birthday a few weeks before her passing.

The daughter of Henry B. and Anna Crawford Rumrill, she was born in Philadelphia, but lived most of her life in Berwyn. In 1911 the Rumrills moved to Berwyn, largely at the suggestion of the Rev. Alden Quimby, the pastor of the Methodist Church, who shared a great interest in astronomy with Libby's father.

A graduate of Tredyffrin-Easttown High School in the Class of 1920, she earned both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in chemistry at Temple University, and was a member of the faculty in the chemistry department at Temple from 1926 until her retirement in 1968. She was also a member of the American Chemical Society.

In addition to her activities with the Tredyffrin Easttown History Club and contributing a number of articles for the Quarterly, Libby was the church historian for St. Peter's Episcopal Church in the Great Valley, where she also sang for many years in the Church choir.

She is survived by several cousins.

Her burial service, which she herself planned and arranged before her death, was held at St. Peter's Church, and interment was in the old burial ground in the adjoining churchyard.