Elizabeth June Mangler

Elizabeth (Betty) J. Mangler died peacefully after a long decline, on October 17, 2019, at her residence in the City of Fairfax, Virginia, with family present. She was 99 years of age. Born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, May 7, 1920, she was the daughter of Raymond Frederick Smith and Mary Catherine (Renn) Smith, and the oldest of four children. Betty graduated from Hazleton High School in 1937, and continued her education at St. Luke’s Nursing School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where she received a Nursing Degree in 1941. She entered the Army Nurse Corps in 1942 as a 2nd Lieutenant, and served with the 16th Evacuation Hospital as a surgical nurse in North Africa and Italy during World War II. On May 9, 1944, she married 1st Lieutenant William (Bill) L. Mangler of the 109th Engineering Battalion in Caserta, Italy. They were married for more than 63 years. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, in the early 1950s in Nursing Education while taking care of five young children. Moving to the Washington DC area, her family finally settled in Fairfax during the mid-1950s, where she lived until her death. There, Betty resumed her nursing career at the old Arlington Hospital (now the Virginia Hospital Center), and later, at Fairfax Hospital (now INOVA Fairfax Hospital) off Gallows Road in Annandale. She advanced to the position of Nursing Administrator before retiring in the early 1970s. During her retirement, she was active as a member and officer in local chapters of the VFW, the Reserve Officers Association, the Military Order of the World Wars, and with the Friends of the Library at the Fairfax County Regional Library. She was a long-time member of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fairfax. Betty traveled widely in her later years, taking several trips abroad. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, her daughter, Betty J. Ludington, and all her siblings, a sister, Mrs. Edward (Merry) Hutton, and two brothers, Renn C. Smith and John A. Smith. She is survived by four children - Mary E. Sides of Herndon (and her husband Wesley), Adrienne E. Mangler of Drums, Pennsylvania, William L. Mangler, Jr of Fairfax, and John E. Mangler of Salisbury, North Carolina (and his wife Gwynne), four grandchildren - Allan Anderson of Alexandria, Virginia, Mary Catherine Anderson Lambert of Longwood, Florida, Cynthia Sides Story of Winter Park, Florida, and Suzanne Sides Huffman of Herndon, Virginia, and their spouses and eight great-grandchildren – Mary Allison and Will Lambert, Lyndsay and Allyson Anderson, Campbell and Jacob, Jr Story, and Elizabeth and Ryan Huffman. She also leaves a sister-in-law, June Smith of Albuquerque, New Mexico; five nieces – Mary Catherine Wolfe and Allison Price of Conygham, PA, Carol Martin of Doyleston, PA, Susan (Rosie) Sheer of Orlando, FL, and Cynthia Moisey of New Cumberland, PA; and a nephew, William Moore of Cottonwood, AL. She was loved by her family and will be greatly missed. Memorial services, when scheduled, will be held for the immediate family at Arlington National Cemetery where she will rest with her husband, Bill, who already lies buried there. The family would like to extend special thanks to the health-care professionals of Vitas In-Home Hospice of Virginia, the INOVA Geriatrics and Advanced Illness Group, and Rebecca Wilson of Comfort Keepers, who helped make her final days easier. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Demaine Funeral Home, City of Fairfax, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of the Family Assistance Programs at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fairfax, or to the Citadel in Charleston, SC (Class of 1942 Scholarship Fund).