Betsy Sherman, 91, a 60-year resident of Falls Church, died peacefully on Aug. 3, 2021, at her home in Arlington.
She was born in Jamestown, New York, on Feb. 8, 1930, the eldest of three children of the late Ernest and Mary Leet. She attended Cornell University, where she was a member of Alpha Phi sorority, graduating in 1951. She married Harvey R. Sherman in 1952 in Jamestown and in 1958 settled in Falls Church, where the couple raised their family.
Betsy was active in city politics for many years as a member of the Falls Church Democratic Committee and the nonpartisan Falls Church Citizens for a Better City organization. In the 1960’s, she served a term as president of the old Madison elementary school PTA. She later worked for many years as parish secretary for St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Falls Church. After Harvey’s death in 1989 she spent her time gardening and traveling in the U.S. and abroad. In 2018, she relocated from Falls Church to the Sunrise at Bluemont community in Arlington.
Betsy leaves behind her sisters Frances Reddaway of Flowery Branch, Georgia, and Rosemary Stark of New Bern, North Carolina; her children Andrew (Deborah) of Springfield, Virginia, Lisa of Arlington, Virginia, Peter (Betsy) of Smithsburg, Maryland, and Mary (Jonathan) of Annapolis, Maryland; her grandchildren Ben (Ali) of Richmond, Virginia, Sarah (Jake) of Collingswood, New Jersey, Dave (Liz) of North Olmstead, Ohio, Isaac of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Jenny of Smithsburg, Maryland; and her great-grandchildren Jacob, Liam, Walter, and Olivia.
Friends are asked to join the family for a celebration of Betsy’s life on Friday, Sept. 24, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Murphy’s Funeral Home in Falls Church. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, NY.
