Elizabeth (Barrow) Schafer

Elizabeth B. "Betsy" Schafer, age 93, went to be with the Lord Jesus on November 26, 2016. She had been a resident of Renaissance Gardens Continuing Care at Charlestown Retirement Community since 2015.

Born in Washington DC, on September 21, 1923, Betsy was the oldest child of Julia (Cassen) and Samuel W. Barrow, Sr. She lived in DC with her parents, sister and twin brothers throughout her school years, graduated from McKinley Tech High School in 1941 and from George Washington University in 1945. She worked in Personnel Management at the Navy Department in DC and then for the Patuxent River Naval Air Test Station in southern Maryland where she met Naval airplane mechanic Charlie Schafer, of Baltimore. They were wed in 1948, and had a son, and a daughter, in 1953 and 1955, respectively. In 1961 they moved to Annandale, Virginia, where Betsy continued her role as a stay-at-home mom until her children were in college. At that point she returned to personnel management at an Army facility in Northern Virginia and worked there until 1982. She moved to a retirement community in Springfield, Virginia in 1999, resided there until 2014, then moved to Catonsville, Maryland.

Betsy was very musically inclined. She loved playing the piano for enjoyment and taught piano lessons in her home. She played the organ at her church occasionally and sang in the choir for many years.

Betsy loved people and showed it by everything she did. She was very active in her church, Friendship United Methodist, and at various times volunteered with Fairfax hospital, Meals-on-Wheels, and a local thrift shop. She deeply loved her family and was a loyal friend to many. She was very generous to her family and to others.

Betsy is survived by a daughter, Pamela (David) Runkle of Catonsville, Maryland, as well as her grandchildren, Amber (Sam) Grammer, Laura (Luke) Martin, Emily (Christopher Hogsten) Runkle, Nikolas Schafer and Meredith Runkle. She’s survived also by her sister, Sally Earls of Atlanta, Georgia, and brothers, Sam Barrow of Gaithersburg, Maryland and Jim Barrow of Portola Valley, California.

Preceding Betsy in death was husband, Charles Schafer and son, Gary Schafer.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be given to Horseshoe Leadership Center, 3309 Horseshoe Run Road, Parsons, WV 26287, or online at www.yla-youthleadership.org.