Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Deiwert Fischer

Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Deiwert Fischer
1936 to 2025

Finder of joy.
Feminist, scientist, artist.
Patron of the arts and scholarship.
Nurturer of nature and personhood.

Born in 1936, Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Deiwert Fischer died in early 2025.

The eldest child of Albert and Sarah Deiwert, Betty and her siblings, Steve and Sharon, grew up in Indianapolis, IN. Betty graduated from Wellesley College in Wellesley Hills, MA in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. While at Wellesley, Betty met Albert (Al) who was completing his Ph.D at Harvard. Betty and Al married in 1959 and in a few years found their way to Western Springs, IL.

Betty and Al lived in Western Springs for 56 years raising their three sons and enjoying many travels, meticulously planned. Thoughtfully caring for their family and home, they treasured innumerable family times there. Betty delighted in countless hours immersed in the craft of their home's landscape garden.

Betty participated in the League of Women Voters for many years, at intervals worked as an election judge, and for an extended time worked in a reproductive health clinic. WFMT radio significantly shaped Betty's many years of living near Chicago. Betty listened to hours and hours of fine arts programming and attended live classical musical performances-a-many, her enthusiasm most especially for the opera. Betty regularly visited art, architecture and history museums, gardens and natural places, near and far.

Over the course of all of her 62 years of membership at the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale (UCH) Betty very much valued her friendships there and appreciated the church's Unitarian-Universalist capacity to democratically reason, listen, know, and advance people's genuine respect for one another.

In 2018 Betty and Al moved to Plymouth Place Senior Living in La Grange Park, IL where Betty enjoyed making friends in its community of people and enjoyed many programs offered, particularly art classes and performing arts, music and lectures. Betty liked to explore to find the pockets of deepest natural and garden beauty across the Plymouth Place campus.

Preceded in death by Al, her husband of 63 years, Betty is survived by their children George (Laura), Charlie and Steven; granddaughters Gabrielle (Jack) and Rachel; great-grandsons Jack and Finn; brother George S. Deiwert (Yoshiko), niece Sarah; sister Sharon Rardon, nephews David and Dan.

A celebration of Betty's life will be held Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at the Unitarian Church of Hinsdale, 17 W Maple St, Hinsdale, IL 60521, with a reception to follow.

Donations in Betty Fischer's memory may be made to:

- A charity of one's choice and/or

- Unitarian Church of Hinsdale Endowment Fund and/or

- Plymouth Place™ Arts Programming, La Grange Park IL and/or

- Wellesley College Fund, specifically Financial Aid & Scholarships