Elizabeth Brown

RYE BEACH - Elizabeth "Betty" Sherrer Brown, 94, died peacefully Jan. 2, 2013, in Portsmouth. Betty was married to Carroll Jonathan Brown of Rye Beach for 70 years until his passing on May 5, 2012.

Betty was born Oct. 14, 1918, in Baltimore. Her parents were the late Frederick Albert and Grace Bussing Sherrer.

Betty and Carroll met in their first class of their first year at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. Betty received a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature and history and then a Master of Arts degree from the graduate school Department of History at the University of New Hampshire.

Betty's lifelong passion in history was to document and preserve the intellectual development of many cultures over many centuries and nations. Her master's thesis, documenting correspondence found in the family attic, provides a glimpse into the intellectual history of nineteenth century America.

Her historical pursuits led her from America into Europe and Asia and finally into Arabia, where she learned the Arab language and forayed into the deserts to discover archaeological artifacts.

She was associated with numerous intellectual and historical societies including locally, Strawbery Banke and the Rye Historical Society.

She was strongly supportive of educational organizations, and established a generous scholarship fund in honor of her mother, Grace Bussing Sherrer, a longtime professor of English and author at the University of Rhode Island.

Surviving family members include two children, Jonathan A. Brown and his wife Marcia Carroll Brown, of Rye; and Betty's daughter, Elizabeth B. Brown of Rye Beach and Middletown, Calif.

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services: Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Rye Congregational Church, Rye Center. Burial will follow in the Central Cemetery, Rye. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited.

Donations in honor of Elizabeth Sherrer Brown may be made to the Rye Historical Society, 10 Old Parish Road, Rye , 03870.

Arrangements are by the Remick & Gendron Funeral home-Crematory, Hampton. For directions or to sign an online guest book, visit www.RemickGendron.com.