Elizabeth Smith Ball

Elizabeth Smith Ball (née Rodger), 90, of Vienna, VA, passed away peacefully on Friday, September 24, 2025 at Reston Hospital after a brief bout of pneumonia.

Elizabeth (or Betty as she was known to nearly everyone) was born February 28, 1935 in Linwood, Scotland to William and Barbara Rodger (née Leitch). The oldest of four, she leaves behind one surviving brother, Andrew.

Betty was selected for the illustrious Camphill Secondary School of Paisely as an early teen. Prior to her marriage in 1959, she attended Paisely Technical College and went on to serve as an Executive Secretary at the Reid Gear Co. Ltd in Paisley. She left that employ to establish her marital home in Glasgow.

In 1960, her picture was featured in the local newspaper as the "prettiest girl" at the BBC Employees Christmas Party where her husband of 51 years, John worked as a television engineer.

In addition to her parents and brother Brian, Betty was preceded in death by John who departed in 2010. Their commingled ashes were scattered at their beloved Vienna home of 40 years, 'Linwood' on October 19, 2025.

Born into the Church of Scotland, and having emigrated with her young family to the US in 1966, Betty went on to become a decades-long member of the Vienna Presbyterian Church where she served for a number of years as a Sunday school teacher.

She was a lifelong church attender, Cub Scout Den Mother and Team Mother for more than one of her sons' soccer teams.

A regular volunteer at Vienna's Freedom Hill Elementary School, Betty showed a special aptitude for taking struggling students aside to teach them one-on-one how to read. Indeed more than a few people owe their literacy to her boundless, volunteer spirit and lifelong love of the English language.

Betty also worked for many years at Alabaster Watch & Clock Repair and The McLean School of Ballet.

She is survived by her sons, Norman, Adrian and Evan for whom she was a tireless and devoted mother and homemaker, as well as her grandson, Gregory.

Betty made friends effortlessly wherever she went and looked for the good in everyone. A proud Scot who loved regaling acquaintances with her encyclopedic knowledge of British royalty and history almost as much as they loved listening, it hardly exaggerates things to say Betty's natural warmth and gentle kindness enchanted everyone she met. She will be dearly missed.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, a donation to the Vienna Presbyterian Church be considered instead, 124 Park Street N.E., Vienna, VA 22180
https://www.viennapres.org/giving/