Elsie Walbert

Elsie Townsend Walbert, of Chestertown, MD, died on February 8, 2004 at Chester River Manor at age 100, just a month shy of her 101st birthday. Born on March 6, 1903,in Quaker Neck, Kent County, MD, into a large farming family, she was the daughter of the late Britton and Mary Anna Goodman Townsend. Her formal education ended when her mother died during the flu epidemic of 1918 and she was kept home to help keep house for nine siblings. She married Sol Walbert, who also was from another very large farming family, in November of 1924 in Bond Chapel. In 1932 they started farming at Broadfields at the very tip of Broadneck on beautiful Lankford Bay. They prospered, and after World War II, purchased their own farm at Fairlee where they lived until retiring to Chestertown in 1968. Ever acutely aware of her own shortened education, Mrs. Walbert fought hard for good educations for her children and succeeded. She loved music, and no family event was complete without everyone gathering around the piano to sing songs. Always active in church, she directed the choir at Salem United Methodist Church in Fairlee for many years, where she taught more than a few young folks to sing. After building a new home on Richard Drive, she and her husband became active in First United Methodist Church where she sang in the church choir for many years. Together with her husband Sol, they enjoyed a wide circle of wonderful friends, playing cards, hosting dinner parties, crabbing on Lankford Bay, playing golf, and bowling. Mrs. Walbert loved flowers and always had a beautiful yard. Aside from her friends and neighbors, leaving her yard was most difficult when deciding to move from her home. Her husband of 69 years, Solomon Startt Walbert died in March of 1993. She is predeceased also by two sisters, eight brothers, and one granddaughter. Mrs. Walbert is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Virginia Garner, formerly of Jenkintown, PA, now of Columbus, NC; a son, Donald T. Walbert, D.V.M. of Queenstown, MD; seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, February 12, 2004 at 11:00 A.M. at First United Methodist Church, High Street, Chestertown, MD where relatives and friends may call one hour prior to the service from 10:00-11:00. Interment will be in Chester Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to First United Methodist Church Music Fund, P. O. Box 227, Chestertown, MD 21620. Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein, and Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., Chestertown, MD.