Elizabeth Anderson

Elizabeth (born Olive Elizabeth) Yourtee Anderson, tireless worker for her family, church, community, and for historic preservation, departed quickly and peacefully from this world on May 22, 2011. Betty, as she was commonly known, was born January 23, 1926, in Hagerstown, Maryland, daughter of the late Justice Leon Ryno Yourtee and Olive Grace (Ahalt) Yourtee. Growing up at Greystone in Brownsville, Maryland, she attended the Brownsville School and graduated from Boonsboro High School, where she was awarded the academic award of excellence. As the world slowly emerged from the Great Depression, she worked for Baer Brothers in Hagerstown and attended Columbia Business College. Moving to Baltimore after the end of the Second World War, she worked for Reliable Liquors, one of the largest distributors in Maryland. In 1946, she was married to Gilbert Eugene Anderson. The two then moved to Parkton, Maryland, where they built a home and became active members of St. James Church, Parkton. After beginning a family there, Mr. Anderson took an early retirement from his position as an engineer, and in 1960, the couple moved to Friendship Farm, near Creagerstown, Maryland, where they operated a thriving dairy for many years. Betty was a superb farmer and herdsman, managing and operating the dairy and breeding a prize winning Holstein herd, which she milked twice a day for more than 35 years. Betty was fiercely proud to be a farmer and considered it a noble calling. During this time, she volunteered at the Frederick Memorial Hospital while earning a cum laude Bachelor of Arts degree from Hood College, with departmental honors in History for her thesis on Catoctin Furnace. In 1995, Betty completed EFM (Education for Ministry), a four-year advanced degree in theological history.

A lifelong Episcopalian, she was baptized in St. John’s Church, Hagerstown, and confirmed in St. Luke’s Church, Brownsville. In 1960, she transferred her membership to Catoctin Episcopal Parish, Harriet Chapel. She was elected the first female member of the Harriet Chapel Parish Vestry, on which she served for more than 40 years. She was also Registrar for more than 45 years, chronicler, historian, a Greeter and Lector, member of the Memorial Garden Committee, and founding editor of the church newsletter, The Chimes . As part of the sesquicentennial of Harriet Chapel, she proposed the embroidery of autumn, Christmas, and Easter tapestries portraying scenes from the history of Catoctin Furnace for the altar, lectern, and pulpit. For all of her adult life, she was a member of the Altar Guild and the Episcopal Church Women, for which she served as both President and Secretary. She also served on the Frederick Regional Council for the Diocese of Maryland.

A champion of social causes throughout her life, she resigned her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution in protest of their opposition to African American membership, and she initiated the divesture of stock holdings and business transactions with companies investing in South Africa at both Harriet Chapel and the Frederick Regional Council of the Episcopal Church. In addition, she was a fervent supporter of gay rights and equality for all, long before such opinions were publically espoused. A lifelong Democrat, she was a member of the Thurmont chapter, Democrats and Friends, and never missed an election.

She was a member of the Thurmont Historical Society and a founding member of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society. In 1983, to coincide with the sesquicentennial of Harriet Chapel, she published Faith in the Furnace , a complete history of the church from the early 19 ^th century to 1983. She recently completed a supplemental history of the church to the present day. Another book currently in press, Catoctin Furnace, Portrait of an Iron Making Community , grew out of an honor’s thesis she wrote while obtaining her Bachelor of Arts degree.

Elizabeth Anderson had an intense interest in history and archaeology. In large part because of her efforts, the historic Catoctin Furnace, supplier of ammunition used during the American Revolution, was saved during the 1970s construction of Highway 15, as was the historic town of Catoctin Furnace itself. She and her husband painstakingly restored one of the original stone iron worker cottages, a critical step in the resultant listing of the village on the National Register of Historic Places. An exacting researcher and historian, she tirelessly corrected misstatements about the furnace in text and the spoken word and frequently gave presentations about local history to the public. She worked unstintingly to preserve the traditional cuisine and handicrafts of Central Maryland, as well as its historic structures, and she was instrumental in organizing the first Catoctin Colorfest, now a popular event that draws hundreds of thousands to the Thurmont area each fall. Her fascination with history and traditional culture motivated her to travel to the USSR, Finland, England, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, China, Singapore, France, Panama, Germany, Botswana, Jordan, Morocco, Israel, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Denmark, and all 50 states.

She is survived by son Jerome Willard Anderson and wife Nancy Ellen Anderson, daughter Melinda Ann Sharitz, son Joel Tilghman Anderson and wife Brigitta Shroyer, and daughter Elizabeth Anderson Comer and husband Douglas Craig Comer. Grandchildren include Kate Elizabeth Anderson and fiancé Chad Derexson, Jeffrey Thomas Zepp and fiancée Heather Malloy, Adrienne Grace Sharitz and fiancé Jamie Smyth, Margaret Anderson Comer, Jacob Arents Comer, and Anne Tilghman Comer. She is also survived by great-grandchildren Kelby Elizabeth Benjamin, Caleb Edward Derexson, Derek Thomas Zepp, and Lilienne Jade Smyth. She is further survived by her nephew, Michael Willard Yourtee, and her niece, Ann Yourtee Selnick. Her brother, Colonel Leon Ryno Yourtee, and sister, Manzella Melinda Yourtee, preceded her in death.

She was generous with her time and resources in her support of many organizations, including Harriet Chapel, the Food Bank, the schools attended by her grandchildren, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

A memorial service celebrating her life will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2011, at Catoctin Episcopal Parish, Harriet Chapel, 12625 Catoctin Furnace Road, Thurmont, Maryland 21788, at 11 a.m., with The Reverend Sally Joyner-Giffin and The Reverend Jacob R. Beck officiating. Following the service, there will be a luncheon reception at her home, Friendship Farm, 8302 Stevens Road, Thurmont. Her ashes will be scattered at Greystone, the Yourtee homestead in Brownsville. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Catoctin Episcopal Parish, Harriet Chapel, 12625 Catoctin Furnace Road, Thurmont, Maryland 21788, to be utilized for the historically accurate restoration of the church windows and for a scholarship fund for undergraduate local history research that is being established in her name. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the family at Staufferfuneralhome.com.