ELIZABETH MARSSDORF JONES

b. 1924

by Ann Victoria Harris Bustard, Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, NC, 2016

Elizabeth Marssdorf Jones

Elizabeth Marssdorf Jones, one of the Crown Jewels of Christ Church, was born in 1924 in New York. Beth’s parents saw to it that their five children attended the Episcopal Church from birth. As a young girl, Beth became a choir member. When she turned sixteen she became a member of the Altar Guild and taught Sunday School in her home parish.

During WWII, Beth remembers the rationing and the stamps they received to buy staples. Also, she has vivid memories of the synthetic soles on the shoes which they wore. Because of the war, there was a scarcity of young men for social activities as many of them were serving overseas. Beth often saw her future husband on the subway in the Bronx. Little did she know that she would meet him officially when she joined the same EYC where he was a member, and the rest is history. Beth and Larry were married in October 1948 and moved to Levittown, Long Island. Larry worked for several different companies and then decided to enter the priesthood. Due to a shortage of priests after the war, Larry received his training by participating in a Home Study to prepare for his vocation. He was ordained a priest in 1955.

Beth and Larry became the parents of 4 natural children and three foster children, beginning with a girl, five boys and lastly another girl. The three foster children were siblings, and court officials did not wish to separate the children, so they became members of the Jones family.

Beth’s role as the mother of 7 children made her the consummate homemaker who sewed all her children’s clothing and knit sweaters, hats, gloves and mitts. As a young priest’s wife, she had a strict budget, so she canned fruits, vegetables and pickles to feed her large family.

During their marriage, they moved many times. Larry’s first job was in Mattituck, Long Island. Subsequently, they moved to New York City and from there they moved to the Diocese of Long Island, where Larry served eight different small parishes. Beth and Larry moved to New Bern in 1990 to retire. Soon, both of them were involved in ministries at Christ Church.

Larry stepped in whenever he was needed for priestly duties, while Beth resumed her service with the Altar Guild, eventually becoming the directress of that organization which she led with dedication and precision. Beth was instrumental in the establishment of the Order of St. Luke, meeting weekly with other parishioners to pray and support other parishioners and friends of the parish. Beth loves people; she is friendly, welcoming, and inquisitive. She is very knowledgeable about all things Episcopal.

She moved to Canton, New York, in May 2016 to be closer to her family. Almost immediately she joined the Altar Guild at her local parish.

PATRICIA O’BRIEN TANKARD BROWN

b. 1932

by the Archives Committee of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, NC, 2016

Patricia O’Brien Tankard Brown

Shortly before moving to Winston-Salem in 1966, Pat and Hal Brown met with Dudley Calhoun, rector of St. Paul’s in Winston-Salem. After meeting with him and the St. Paul’s staff, they were sure they had found their new church home.

The Browns were invited to a newcomer’s dinner, where they met people destined to become their close and dear friends. Through these connections, Pat immediately started working with the Kitchen Guild. For many years, she worked with outreach groups, serving the elderly and cooking for the ECW bazaar and Lenten lunches.

Next she served as president of the Episcopal Church Women, parish treasurer, and vestry member. Pat represented our diocese at the COCU Conference, while participating in the St. Paul’s Church School activities.

Serving her community, Pat served on the Ronald McDonald Home board from the start, and, with her husband, led the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County United Way Campaign.

She remembers the EFM course as one of the most meaningful experiences of her church journey, and feels that experience greatly enriched her St. Paul’s commitment.

The Browns were married in 1951. Hal served in Korea and then finished graduate school, after which he and Pat moved to Winston-Salem. Their family includes five children—Andy, Bruce, Adele, Edward, and George. When George was killed as a sophomore in college, St. Paul’s truly became an extended family. The parish was invaluable in showing support and love.

St. Paul’s has been, and always will be, an integral part of Pat and Hal Brown’s lives.

ANN MARGARET DONNELL

April 2, 1823 – March 7, 1908

by David Curtis Skaggs, Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, NC, 2016

Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, NC

Ann Margaret Donnell was born in New Bern to Judge John Robert Donnell and Margaret Spaight Donnell. Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight was her grandfather, and her brother, Richard Spaight Donnell, was a United States Congressman.

Few individuals gave more generously than Ann Donnell to the restoration of Christ Church after fire consumed the second church building in 1871. In her popular 1977 seven-lecture series at Christ Church, Gertrude Carraway provided these details: “Miss Ann M. Donnell, baptized in Christ Church Aug. 5, 1829, when she was six years old, retained her deep interest in the church after she moved from New Bern to New Jersey and was one of its most generous donors. She gave the marble baptismal font in memory of the Rev. Henry F. Green, the 1854-57 rector; the stained-glass windows for her parents, Judge and Mrs. John Robert Donnell; the 110-foot landmark steeple, completed in 1885; and the church bell, which is considered unusually loud and melodious.”

Carraway then provided confirmation for the gift of the church bell: “While recently inspecting the area above the church ceiling, Joseph M. Freemon, engineer, and John C. Thomas, contractor, both former vestrymen, copied the inscription on the huge, heavy, iron bell. It showed that it was presented to Christ Church in 1871 by Miss Donnell and that it had been manufactured that year, shortly after the January fire which had burned the second church, by the Meneely and Kimberly Foundry of Troy, New York.”*

Miss Donnell died in Wilmington. According to her obituary, she “was a consistent and loyal member of the Episcopal church” and was “well-known throughout this State and highly esteemed.”

*Accessed 11-27-17: https://archive.org/stream/historicchristch00carr/historicchristch00carr_djvu.txt

HELEN ANN LERIAN HUMPHREY

b. 1932

by the Archives Committee of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, NC, 2016

Helen Ann Lerian Humphrey

Helen Ann Lerian is a cradle Episcopalian who grew up at St. Timothy’s parish in Catonsville, Maryland. She was very active with the Church during her early years.

In 1956 she married Dudley Humphrey, from Wilmington, North Carolina. They moved to Winston-Salem in 1961 and joined St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where both have been active members ever since.

Ann immediately joined a circle and became involved with the ECW Bazaar. She had the privilege of working with some truly remarkable women, who trained her well. For more than fifty years, she has helped cook the lasagna for the Bazaar luncheon.

Ann has served on just about every committee, including the Education Committee, the Personnel Committee, and search committees for assistant rectors and for the rector. She chaired the Trust Commission (outreach), and recently she and Dudley chaired the Every Member Canvass. Ann has been a delegate several times to the Diocesan Convention, serving on the Credentials Committee.

Ann has been elected to two terms on the Vestry, has completed two terms as Senior Warden, and has also served as Junior Warden. She has served on The Thompson Children’s Home board. Currently for St. Paul’s, she chairs the Funeral Reception Committee and serves as an Agape host.

Ann firmly believes that the Lord always asks you to do a job, whether you know it or not. To serve the Lord and one’s church is the ultimate gift in life.

ARETE SITGREAVES ELLIS

1803 – 1864

by Charles K. (Ken) McCotter, Jr., Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, NC, 2016

Arete Sitgreaves Ellis

Arete Sitgreaves Ellis was the daughter of Maj. George Ellis and Amaryllis Sitgreaves Ellis, who were married in Craven County, NC, in 1792. George represented New Bern in the 1800 and 1801 House of Commons, and Amaryllis was the sister of United States District Judge, John Sitgreaves.

In the 1850 United States Census for New Bern, Arete was listed as a teacher, along with three other adults and seventeen female students. By 1860 the listing included 23 students and four adults. These students would have been attending the Moses Griffin Free Girls School, which was incorporated in 1833, then operated from 1840 until it closed in 1862 because of the Civil War. As Superintendent of this school, “Miss Arete” was listed as head of the household.

According to the entry for Moses Griffin in the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography by Gertrude Carraway, Griffin had left money and explicit instructions in his will for a lot, a building and a “proper schoolmaster” to teach indigent children. Besides being housed and taught, the orphans or other poor children were to be maintained and clothed. At age fourteen they were to be apprenticed to trades or other occupations. By the time the school actually opened in 1840, the executors had decided to educate poor girls instead of boys.

“Miss Arete” was selected as headmistress, and under her supervision the girls were housed, clothed, fed and given medical treatment. She taught them the regular subjects, along with sewing, knitting, spinning, cooking, housework, gardening, and liberal doses of Bible lessons and personal morality. Along with her St. Bernard dog, Miss Arete took her students on daily walks through the woods to collect and study wildflowers. Each Sunday she marched her charges, dressed in their school uniforms, to Christ Church. All the students received instruction in the Bible, religion and morality, and Miss Arete sponsored many for baptism.

In her memory one of the windows in the church honors her and contains the Proverb: “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.” Hopefully it still stimulates others to “go and do likewise.”