Hilda S. Warner

Hilda Sizer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 17, 1918. She was the second of six children of Caroline Foster Sizer and Theodore Sizer, a well known professor and art historian. She grew up in Bethany, Connecticut as something of a tomboy. She loved hiking, mountain climbing and the great outdoors. Her senior year of high school was spent living with a family in Germany. She graduated from Vassar College in 1940, then worked for the New Haven Housing Authority. In 1942 she moved to Washington D.C. to take a job with the War Department as a research analyst in the German section of Military Intelligence.

In 1944 she married attorney Sturgis Warner, who later played a pivotal role in the District of Columbia's fight for Home Rule. They had five children. While raising them she was active in various volunteer activities: fifteen years with the PTA, eight with cooperative nursery schools, seven with the Girl Scouts, four with the African American Wives Group, and three with the Urban Service Corps. She also played the flute with amateur music groups, as well as the accordion. She attended St. Albans Parish for close to sixty years.

From 1966 to 1971 Hilda was a Reading Teacher in the D.C. Public School system. In 1972 she received her Masters in Education from George Washington University. For twenty years afterwards she was a Reading Clinician at the University's Reading Center where she specialized in adult literacy. After the closing of the Center, she taught remedial reading on a volunteer basis to many adults and children.

Hilda was fiercely self reliant. In later years she lost her eyesight to macular degeneration, yet still insisted on finding her own way around. She treated all with dignity and respect and was much loved by many. She is survived by her five children, Molly Warner and Edie Warner both of Seattle, Sturgis Warner Jr. of New York City, Roger Warner of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Ariel Faith Warner of Gloucestershire, England, as well as six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Saturday April 28, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. at St. Albans Parish, 3001 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. A reception will follow. All are invited. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the D.C. Public Library, http://www.dclibrary.org/donate