Elizabeth Van den Berg Western

ELIZABETH LAURA VAN DEN BERG WESTERN On Thursday, July 30, 2015, Elizabeth Laura van den Berg Western, of Annapolis, Maryland and formerly of Chevy Chase, Maryland, died peacefully at Ginger Cove Retirement Center after a short illness. She was 79. The third of five children of the late Elizabeth King and Oliver Wolcott van den Berg (Col., U.S. Army), Elizabeth, or Button, as she was known to her family, was born at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma on May 5, 1936, and grew up at U.S. Army posts in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, and Missouri. She was the granddaughter of the late Martha Egerton and Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King (U.S. Navy), of Washington, D.C., and the late Laura Wolcott and Professor Henri Jacobus van den Berg, of Urbana, Illinois. Mrs. Western was a 1954 graduate of National Cathedral School for Girls, Washington, D.C. and a 1958 graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity. She received a Master’s degree in education from The American University, Washington, D.C. For more than 30 years, Mrs. Western was a classroom teacher and, later, teacher’s aide in the Montgomery County, Maryland public school system. On November 30, 1963, she married Harvey Joe Western, of Brookfield, Missouri, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Webster Groves, Missouri. They lived in Alexandria, Virginia, and, in 1965, settled in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where they welcomed the arrival of their two children, Daniel Cotter Western and Martha van den Berg Western. A weekend cottage in the Sherwood Forest Club eventually became their primary residence before moving to Ginger Cove in 2012. Mrs. Western had a keen mind, a great sense of humor, a love of laughter, and an appreciation of a good joke. She was a superb hostess and thrived in the company of family and friends. An accomplished and adventurous cook, the Westerns and four other couples formed a monthly gourmet dinner club to prepare menus from Gourmet magazine in the 1970s that continues to this day. A beach lover, the Westerns shared a Southern Shores, North Carolina beach cottage, The Wayfarer, with close friends Lois and Jack Coon, and, from 1973 to 1981, spent many happy times there. Always active, her hobbies included tennis, reading, bridge, genealogy, and train travel, and she and Joe enjoyed attending local theater and musical productions. She was a member of Sherwood Forest’s multiple book and bridge clubs that kept her sharp and up-to-date with friends. Elizabeth was a kind and caring person as evidenced by her faithful letter writing, often taking the time to include newspaper clippings of particular interest to specific family and friends. A descendant of Leonard Calvert, the first colonial governor of Maryland, she was a member of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of Maryland and the Society of the Ark and the Dove. Elizabeth was a loyal member of the Caritas Society of St. John’s College and participated in many events to benefit students at the College. She was active with her churches, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Chevy Chase, Maryland, and St. Anne’s Church, Annapolis, Maryland, and was devoted in her faith. Dearest to her was her affiliation with Kappa Alpha Theta and the alumnae chapters and committees with which she was active until recently. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her daughter Martha (Mimi) Western, of Baltimore, Maryland, and her son, Daniel Western (wife, Samantha), of Gaithersburg, Maryland; a grandson, Wyatt Danser (partner, Holly Scott), of Baltimore, two granddaughters Madison Woolworth and Delaney Western, both of Gaithersburg; and, a great-grandson Wyatt Danser, Jr., of Baltimore. Also surviving are sisters, Martha van den Berg Slaughter (husband, Harry) and Margaret Wilson van den Berg, both of Easton, Maryland; brother Egerton King van den Berg (wife, Nancy), of Winter Park, Florida; and 22 nieces and nephews; numerous cousins, and, as Elizabeth liked to say, “a world of friends”. She was predeceased by her brother Oliver Wolcott van den Berg (Lt. Col., USMC); and, sisters- and brothers-in-law June (Western) and James Cowan, Alma W. van den Berg, and Mildred and Tex Western. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, August 20, at 11:00am at St. Anne’s Church, Church Circle, Annapolis, Maryland, with a reception following at the Sherwood Forest Club Stewart Hall, 134 Sherwood Forest Road, Annapolis. Burial, at St. James’ Church, Lothian, Maryland, will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions in Elizabeth’s name to the Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation, 8740 Founders Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268 or kappaalphatheta.org. Arrangements are by John M. Taylor Funeral Home, Annapolis.