Elizabeth Lib Hatcher Conner

. Elizabeth Hatcher Conner, 97, passed away at her home on January 27, 2016. Lib, as she was known, was born in High Point, North Carolina on August 2, 1918 to Pearl Sink Hatcher and Edgar A. Hatcher. She is survived by her daughters, Susan Conner of High Point and Christine Levin (Stephen) of Philadelphia, and her three grandsons, Daniel, Sam and Matthew Levin. She lost her sister, Anna Dawson in 2006, her husband, Bob Conner, in 2007, her son, Bill, in 2011, and her brother, Ed, in 2014.

Lib was graduated from Duke University with a degree in Zoology in 1939 and received her master’s degree from the University of Missouri. While at Duke she met the love of her life, Robert Conner. There were married at Duke on August 24, 1940.

Lib was a lifelong learner and she loved to teach. While Bob served in the Seabees during WWII, Lib taught biology at Smith College. She subsequently taught anatomy and physiology at the High Point Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and also in the Allied Health Programs of Bowman Gray School of Medicine. She also taught Biology at High Point College for a number of years.

Lib and Bob shared a love of the environment and she worked tirelessly on behalf of numerous environmental causes. She was a founder of the Conservation Council of North Carolina and Friends of State Parks. Lib lobbied vigorously in the North Carolina General Assembly for the creation of North Carolina State Parks. She travelled to Raleigh with Bob often to lobby for the protection of natural areas and as a result preserved many acres of the state’s natural beauty for the enjoyment of everyone and protected habitat for wildlife. She was a member most recently of the Rich Fork Preserve Committee, working towards the development of a trail stewardship plan and a local open space preserve in High Point, her home for her entire life.

Lib was a lifelong member of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, January 31 at 1:30 PM at River Landing at Sandy Ridge. The family asks that memorial contributions be directed in her memory to the environmental cause of choice or to Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, 1225 Chestnut Drive, High Point, NC 27262.

Please send on line condolences to www.sechrestfunerals.com.