Mary Ellen Ladow Hill died on July 12, 2023, at the age of 94, in her beloved home on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Born in Woodbury, N.J., to Dorothy and Arthur Ladow, she attended the New Jersey College for Women (later named Douglass College at Rutgers University), and earned a degree in library science in 1950. She met her husband, Donald, when he rented a room from Mary Ellen’s mother. They were married for more than 70 years.
Mary Ellen devoted her life to her family and service. She worked diligently to share her love of history through the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was regent of the Ann Whitall Chapter in New Jersey, as well as the Bill of Rights Chapter in Virginia. Additionally, she was a docent at Sully Plantation and the DAR Museum. In 1991, she and Donald winterized the family summer home on the Island. Mary Ellen joined the Sea Coast Defence Chapter, and was a docent at the Thomas Cooke House in Edgartown, and a cataloguer for the Dukes County Historical Society.
Mary Ellen was a member of the AAUW for more than 50 years, and served in many leadership roles. She belonged to the PEO, the Vineyard Garden Club, and two book clubs. She was the children’s librarian and Sunday school teacher for the Woodbury Presbyterian Church, a member of the church circle and the library committee of the Fairfax Presbyterian Church, and participated in many social and hospitality groups at the Federated Church of Martha’s Vineyard.
Mary Ellen will be remembered as a lifelong reader, a lover of nature, and a crafter. She made beautiful quilts and counted cross-stitch pieces. She loved dollhouses, decorating for holidays, and digging through old artifacts. She loved her husband and family dearly, and was incredibly proud of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Mary Ellen is survived by her children and their spouses: Elizabeth (Hill) and Norman Lehrer, David and Kelly Hill, and Mary (Hill) and Jim Long; her grandchildren Emily (Lehrer) Pierce, Benjamin Lehrer, Miranda (Hill) Jacob, Michael Hill, Megan Long, and Delaney Long; and her great-grandchildren Oakland and Hudson Hill, Julien and Marcel Lehrer, and Dylan Jacob.
A private service is being planned.
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