Helen %28Maryland%29 Pilert

Former Roland Park resident, Helen Pilert, nee Lederer, died at Heron Point in Chestertown, MD at the age of 84 on July 22, 2004 after a long illness. She was born May 1, 1920, the daughter of the late Henry Andrew Lederer Jr. and Marguerite Mueller Lederer. She attended Friend’s School in Baltimore from first through twelfth grade, where she played varsity field hockey, tennis and basketball, and was president of the Honor Society. She graduated from Connecticut College for Women, where she earned a BA in English Literature in 1942, She quoted the President of Connecticut College, “when you educate a woman, you educate a family.” In 1943 she married 2nd Lt. Marshall Lee Pilert, her childhood sweetheart, who preceded her in death in 2000. During WWII while her husband was a POW at Stalag Luft III in Germany she worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad arranging troop transports. They moved to Old Greenwich, CT in 1952, but maintained her Baltimore roots, returning annually for The Maryland Hunt Cup, and frequent reunions with Friend’s School classmates, family, and friends. Volunteer work included The American Red Cross Blood Bank, where she would make and serve twelve dozen deviled eggs, The American Red Cross support to military families, Escort Services at Greenwich Hospital for over 30 years and the Alter Guild at St. Savior’s Church in Old Greenwich, CT. She was a member of the Garden Club of Old Greenwich and the American Association of University Women. In 2001 she returned to Maryland and made her home in Chestertown. At the time of her death, she was a communicant at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestertown. She and her husband Lee enjoyed traveling and had been to Egypt, East Africa, Japan, China, The Galapagos, and had traveled extensively through Europe. They were sailors, and had enjoyed sailing in the British Virgin Islands and the Grenadines with their children. She was an avid tennis player and bridge player. With her family she enjoyed raising Golden Retrievers. Her children, Anne Pilert Engelskirchen and husband Tod of St. Michaels, MD, Michael B. Pilert of Zephyrhills, FL and Barbara L. Pilert of Baltimore, MD, along with a niece and nephew, Peggy G. Lederer and Henry Andrew Lederer IV survive her. Services will be held on Monday, July 26, 2004 at 2:00 PM at Wesley Hall Heron Point in Chestertown, MD. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Save the Children, Donor Services, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880 or the American Red Cross (your local chapter). Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P. A., Chestertown, MD. www.fhnfuneralhome.com