Elizabeth Sellars Farmer

Elizabeth Sellars Farmer, 101, died at Moses Cone Hospital on Thursday, December 5, 2013, after a short illness. A memorial service for Mrs. Farmer will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 10, 2013, in the chapel at First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, N. C. The family will receive friends in the Blair Hagan Room immediately after the service.

Mrs. Farmer was born on December 26, 1911, in Burlington, N. C. She was the third child and only daughter of the late Walter R. and Lila Bailey Sellars. Mrs. Farmer was educated in the Burlington City schools and graduated from Duke University with honors in English. While at Duke, she was president of Kappa Alpha Theta and was elected to White Duchy, the senior women’s leadership honor society. On November 11, 1939, she married the late William D. Farmer, M.D. They had two children, Elizabeth B. Farmer, who survives, and the late William D. Farmer, III. At the time of her marriage, she was a buyer for B. A. Sellars and Sons, the Burlington department store founded in 1871 by her grandfather.

Raised in a family with a long tradition of community service, Mrs. Farmer was an active volunteer. She was past president of the Junior League of Greensboro. At First Presbyterian Church, she was president of the Fellowship Class and chairman of the World Missions Committee for the Women of the Church of the former Orange Presbytery. She was a member of the Greensboro Garden Club and the Wednesday Literary Club and was a former member of The Assembly and the Debutante Club of Greensboro.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Farmer is survived by nieces Elizabeth Sellars Little of Greensboro and Bailey Sellars Barnett of Charlotte, nephews Rainey Sellars of Greensboro and William F. McGinty of Charlotte, and many cousins and extended nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 617 N. Elm Street, Greensboro, NC 27401 or to a charity of the donor’s choice.

On line condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com