Betty
Betty Jane Lefever Gibson
Betty Jane LeFever Gibson, 93, of Sunrise Assisted Living in Oakton VA, formerly of Lancaster, PA, died Wednesday, September 9
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, 2015. She was the widow of the Rev. William A. Gibson, a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, who died in Feb. 2000.
She was the daughter of Roy Breneman LeFever and Norma Henwood LeFever Toth, of Lancaster. A retired school teacher, she substituted at Hempfield and Donegal High Schools from 1984-1994. Prior to that, she taught for 12 years in the Franklin Area High School in Venango County, PA following ten years in the Washington, DC area where she taught for five years at the Cynthia Warner School, Takoma Park, MD and as a substitute teacher at the Holton Arms School, Bethesda, MD.
She was a January 1940 graduate of McCaskey High School in Lancaster, PA. Due to her math acumen, she worked for the US Navy testing chronometers at the Hamilton Watch Factory while also attending Millersville University, PA, during WW II. She graduated from Penn State University in 1944 with a degree in secondary education. One of nine women in the first class of women students at Princeton Theological Seminary she completed two years in the graduate School of Christian Education before her marriage in 1946. Her class notes are preserved in the manuscript archives of the Princeton Seminary Library’s Special Collections.
As the wife of a minister, she served with him in Presbyterian Churches USA in Susquehanna and Lucerne, PA; Harrison NY; Jeannette and Greensburg, PA; a new church development in Rockville MD and finally in Franklin PA before retirement to Lancaster. She re-joined her home church, First Presbyterian on Orange St. where she served as a student intern during the summer of 1946. At First Presbyterian she served as a deacon for 11 years, moderated the deacons and the Women’s Association, sang in the choir, served as a circle leader and as a member of several committees, collaborated in writing the 250 year history of that congregation, held offices in Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery of Donegal and in the local Church Women United.
She was predeceased by her brother, Stanton B. LeFever, her mother, Norma Henwood LeFever Toth, and her husband, all of Lancaster. She is survived by her sister, Nancy L. Hampton (widow of the Rev. Ormond L. Hampton) of Powder Springs, GA; three daughters; Nancy (husband Robert) of Bluffton, SC, Judith of Lewes, DE, Susan (husband Joseph) of Vienna, VA; one son, William (wife Ingrid ), of Washington, DC; five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held in the Chapel at First Presbyterian Church, 140 E. Orange St, Lancaster, PA 17602 on Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 11:00 AM. A visitation will be held from 10:00 AM until the time of the service. Interment will be private in the Church Memorial Garden. Gifts in her memory to the loving staff of Sunrise: “The Good Samaritan Fund”, Sunrise Senior Living/Oakton, 7902 Westpark Dr., McLean, VA 22102 or to Capital Caring Hospice,
www.capital
caring.org/donate or flowers are welcome. To leave an online condolence for the family please visit: www.DeBordSnyder.com
th
, 2015. She was the widow of the Rev. William A. Gibson, a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, who died in Feb. 2000.
She was the daughter of Roy Breneman LeFever and Norma Henwood LeFever Toth, of Lancaster. A retired school teacher, she substituted at Hempfield and Donegal High Schools from 1984-1994. Prior to that, she taught for 12 years in the Franklin Area High School in Venango County, PA following ten years in the Washington, DC area where she taught for five years at the Cynthia Warner School, Takoma Park, MD and as a substitute teacher at the Holton Arms School, Bethesda, MD.
She was a January 1940 graduate of McCaskey High School in Lancaster, PA. Due to her math acumen, she worked for the US Navy testing chronometers at the Hamilton Watch Factory while also attending Millersville University, PA, during WW II. She graduated from Penn State University in 1944 with a degree in secondary education. One of nine women in the first class of women students at Princeton Theological Seminary she completed two years in the graduate School of Christian Education before her marriage in 1946. Her class notes are preserved in the manuscript archives of the Princeton Seminary Library’s Special Collections.
As the wife of a minister, she served with him in Presbyterian Churches USA in Susquehanna and Lucerne, PA; Harrison NY; Jeannette and Greensburg, PA; a new church development in Rockville MD and finally in Franklin PA before retirement to Lancaster. She re-joined her home church, First Presbyterian on Orange St. where she served as a student intern during the summer of 1946. At First Presbyterian she served as a deacon for 11 years, moderated the deacons and the Women’s Association, sang in the choir, served as a circle leader and as a member of several committees, collaborated in writing the 250 year history of that congregation, held offices in Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery of Donegal and in the local Church Women United.
She was predeceased by her brother, Stanton B. LeFever, her mother, Norma Henwood LeFever Toth, and her husband, all of Lancaster. She is survived by her sister, Nancy L. Hampton (widow of the Rev. Ormond L. Hampton) of Powder Springs, GA; three daughters; Nancy (husband Robert) of Bluffton, SC, Judith of Lewes, DE, Susan (husband Joseph) of Vienna, VA; one son, William (wife Ingrid ), of Washington, DC; five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held in the Chapel at First Presbyterian Church, 140 E. Orange St, Lancaster, PA 17602 on Saturday, September 26, 2015 at 11:00 AM. A visitation will be held from 10:00 AM until the time of the service. Interment will be private in the Church Memorial Garden. Gifts in her memory to the loving staff of Sunrise: “The Good Samaritan Fund”, Sunrise Senior Living/Oakton, 7902 Westpark Dr., McLean, VA 22102 or to Capital Caring Hospice,
www.capital
caring.org/donate or flowers are welcome. To leave an online condolence for the family please visit: www.DeBordSnyder.com
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Betty Jane Lefever Gibson, please visit our flower store.
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