Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: October 1996 Volume 34 Number 4, Page 162

In Memoriam: Annabelle Buffett Motley

Page 162

Annabelle B. Motley, a former member of the Tredyffrin Easttown History Club, who served as its secretary in 1966-1967 and treasurer in 1972-1975, died on August 13, 1996 in State College, Pennsylvania, in her ninetieth year. She had moved from Berwyn almost twenty years ago to live near one of her daughters. Wherever she lived, she took an active interest in church and community affairs.

She was born on July 12, 1907 in Philadelphia. After moving with her parents, she attended Marple Newtown Schools and later graduated from Pierce School of Business in Philadelphia. On November 12, 1930, in Malvern, she married Walter Motley. Following his death in 1949, she was employed as a secretary/ bookkeeper at the Tredyffrin Easttown School District for 20 years and for a time was Secretary of the Easttown board when it met separately. She had a great sense of humor and was fond of saying, "When they went from ABM* to IBM they had to hire a lot more people."
*Annabelle B. Motley

For a time she lived off White Horse Road, and later on Woodside Avenue in Berwyn. After her children married, she shared a double house at 11-13 Main Avenue with Sara Nuzum, another History Club member. The house was located off Lancaster Avenue behind the Berwyn bank, and once had been a private school and later a boarding house. Miss Nuzum sold the property to the bank, and the house was demolished to provide bank parking about 1977.

Annabelle will be remembered for her contribution to the Quarterly, in 1972, of a history of the Berwyn Ice Plant. She is survived by four daughters, fourteen grandchildren and eighteen great grandchildren, in addition to one sister. She was preceded in death by an infant son.