Elizabeth "Betty" S. Harper

Elizabeth "Betty" S. Harper, 88, of Secretary passed away on November 19, 2013. She was born in Cambridge on May 22, 1925 and was the daughter of the late Tilghman Lee and Lena Christopher Stevens.

Betty graduated from Cambridge High School class of 1942 and Dorchester General Hospital School of Nursing in 1946. She passed her licensing exam and became a registered nurse in the same year. On January 11, 1948 she married Harold B. Harper who passed away on March 7, 2000. From 1953 to 1984, Betty was employed at the Eastern Shore Hospital Center. She was instrumental in forming outreach clinics and counseling clients in Somerset, Worcester and Wicomico counties. Through her efforts, along with others from the Hospital Center, clients were able to receive continuing mental health services in their own communities and remain with family and friends. After Betty retired as a Nursing Division Chief, she continued to work with clients for one year at Somerset Mental Health Clinic. She was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in East New Market, AARP and a past member of the Dorchester Center for the Arts.

She is survived by a son Steven H. Harper of Herndon, VA, two daughters Terry Howard of Woodbridge, VA and Heidi Capelli of Arlington, VA, five grandchildren Jenna Howard Woolls, Matthew Capelli, Elise Capelli Ljiko, Christopher Harper and Claris Dogao, a sister Pat Holdt of Cambridge, several nieces and nephews and her caregivers Sheila and Anthony Cuffee of Hurlock. Betty also considered Elfi Bauer Gschwandtner, the family's 1968-69 exchange student from Austria, as a daughter of her heart. Both families have remained close throughout the years.

Betty was devoted to her family and friends. She always remembered to give a card or gift on your birthday, give a friendly call to check in on you and was ready to tell a story to brighten your day.

Besides her parents and her husband, Betty is preceded in death by a sister Vivian S. Fairall and a brother Tilghman C. Stevens.

Pallbearers will be James Howard, David Capelli, Matthew Capelli, Christopher Harper, Jason Woolls and Redzep Ljiko.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday November 26, 2013 at 1PM at Thomas Funeral Home, P.A. in Cambridge with Rev. Carol A. Terry officiating. Interment will follow at East New Market Cemetery. Family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday November 25th. Memorial contributions can be made to Trinity United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 95, East New Market, MD 21631 or to Coastal Hospice Foundation, P.O. Box 1733, Salisbury, MD 21802. The Family would like to invite you to a repast at Trinity United Methodist Church after the interment.