Elizabeth “Betty” Boardman Baer, 99, passed away peacefully Oct. 2, 2018, in Las Cruces, N.M.
Elizabeth Boardman was born in Hartford, Conn., in March 1919, to Ethel and Elbridge Henry Boardman.
She grew up in Fair Haven, N.J., and attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she studied chemistry and zoology, graduating in 1940.
Betty married Marshall Algor and had two children, John and Tenya. She later divorced. She worked as a science teacher and obtained a master’s degree in 1951 from Columbia Teachers’ College. Moving with her two children to Arlington, Va., she worked as a high school guidance counselor. As a member of the Arlington Education Association, she proposed integrating the AEA with the all-black Arlington Teachers’ Association, an action which got the AEA expelled from the then all-white Virginia Education Association. She later became president of the AEA. In 1961, the National Education Association commended the AEA for this “courageous leadership” in integration. Betty was an active congregant of the All Souls Unitarian Church in nearby Washington, D.C.
Betty enjoyed the great outdoors and was a member of the Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy, and the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, among others. One summer, she took her children camping around the United States, stopping in nearly every national park. She was an avid bird watcher, as well as a folk dancer and square dancer.
In 1967, she married Donald Stough, executive director of the Nature Conservancy, and moved to Reston, Va. Two years later, they retired and embarked on a two-year journey to survey the public domain, visiting each of the Bureau of Land Management regional offices in the western United States. They conducted extensive interviews with the intention of writing a book about BLM resources, but unfortunately, they were unable to finish their work when Don was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1973.
Betty Stough continued to live in Reston and became a real estate agent. She traveled widely, visiting all but one of the seven continents. On one of her bird watching weekends she met Charles Baer, a retired West Virginia University professor of botany. They decided to marry in 1989. He was 69, she had just turned 70, and he accused her of robbing the cradle.
Betty moved to Morgantown, where she and Charlie lived for the next 25 years. There, she was president of the Coopers Rock Foundation (1994-’96), and in 1996, she was presented a special commendation by West Virginia Governor Caperton for her work to protect Coopers Rock. She was active in a bridge club, gardening club, book club and other local organizations. In 2014, her beloved Charlie passed away and Betty moved to Las Cruces, to be near family.
Betty Baer is survived by her children, John Algor, of Arlington, Va., Tenya (Grant) Price, of Las Cruces; grandchildren, Grant David Price (Elizabeth), of Englewood, Colo., Elinora Price (Brad Jacobson), of Tucson, Ariz., and Miriam Price, of Baltimore; as well as three great-grandchildren.
Betty had a bright smile and twinkling eyes. She was a good listener. She felt that it was very important to help others, and when she believed something needed to be done, she often volunteered to do it herself. She will be greatly missed.
Inurnment will be held at West Virginia National Cemetery, in Grafton, on Nov. 16.
Arrangements are with La Paz-Graham’s Funeral Home, 555 W. Amador, Las Cruces, NM 88005.
Condolences: lapaz-grahams.com
