Elizabeth Alden Ledwith

Elizabeth Tryon Ledwith died peacefully on Sunday, September 9, 2012, a week after her 103rd birthday. She was a resident at Waverly Heights, Gladwyne, PA since 1987. Elizabeth Alden Tryon was born on September 3, 1909 and raised in Haverford, PA. The eldest child of Charles Z. and Bessie A. Tryon, Elizabeth (Betty) graduated from The Shipley School in 1927. She went on to Pierce Junior College and then worked at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Her younger brother, Edward K. Tryon III, President of the Edward K. Tryon Co., the family's wholesale sporting goods business, predeceased her. In 1935, she married Richard W. Ledwith, who came to Philadelphia from western Pennsylvania following graduation from Waynesburg College and Harvard Law School. Mr. Ledwith died in 1990. Mrs. Ledwith's school years at Shipley were the beginning of more than seventy years of loyalty and volunteer activity on behalf of the School. In the 1950's, she served on the Alumni Board and was its president from 1956 to 1959. In 1956, she joined the Board of Trustees and remained a member until 1979, when she became Trustee Emerita. She served as Board Chair from 1970-1972, during which time the School made the decision to become co-educational. A total of three generations of Ledwiths graduated from the School, including her daughter (Mary Tryon), granddaughter (Cheryl D.), and two grandsons (Richard W., III and Joshua D.). Mrs. Ledwith was a life-long member of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church and a strong supporter of its mission and programs. She was actively involved in the music and fine arts program of the church. She regularly attended its choral and organ concerts and especially appreciated these in her last years. She also served as Women's Association President (1946-1948) and as an adult leader for fifteen years in the church's outreach tutoring program. A staunch supporter of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Curtis Institute of Music, and Singing City Choir, Mrs. Ledwith attended their many concerts well into her nineties. She was a pioneering and life-long member of the Cosmopolitan Club of Philadelphia from its early years in the 1930's, and a member of the Merion Cricket Club. In 1952, she was elected to membership in the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. She had substantial wide-ranging charitable interests in music, land conservation, museum and fine arts, and service organizations. She supported Bay Chamber Concerts and Coastal Mountain Land Trust in Maine. Mrs. Ledwith's family roots were in Camden, Maine where her mother Bessie Alden Adams had grown up, and her Adams and Alden family relatives lived. Her grandfather, Benjamin Cushing Adams was an owner of the Knox Woolen Mills, a major industry in town until the 1980's. In the 1950's, the Ledwiths built a vacation home on Lake Megunticook near Camden, where she and her family enjoyed year-round vacationing throughout her lifetime. Mrs. Ledwith is survived by three children, James R. (Robin) and his wife Kathie (Camden, ME), Richard W. Jr. (Rick) and his wife Lisa (Broomall, PA), and Mary Tryon and her friend Robert H. Holmes (King of Prussia, PA); her five grandchildren, Cheryl D. (Lucky), James R. Jr., Richard W. III, Scott W., Joshua D. Ledwith, their spouses; and six great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her Tryon nieces and nephew, Margo Bennett, Cathy Mick, Pat Martin, and Edward K. Tryon IV, and their several dozen children and grandchildren. She was privileged to celebrate her 100th birthday in September, 2009 with all her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews and friends in attendance. A service celebrating the life of Elizabeth Tryon Ledwith will be held on Saturday, October 20 at 12 noon in the sanctuary of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Richard W. Ledwith Memorial Fund for Christmas Music of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church Foundation (625 Montgomery Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010) or The Shipley School (814 Yarrow St, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010). Arrangements by Stuard Funeral Directors, Inc., Ardmore, PA (www.stuardfuneralhome.com ).