Elizabeth Prewitt

07/09/1948 - 08/26/2025

Elizabeth Harner Prewitt died on the morning of Tuesday, August 26, 2025 with her daughter and husband by her side at home in Washington, DC. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, she was 77 years old.
Employing skills gained during a five-decade career in government relations and advocacy, Elizabeth devoted much energy in the last five years of her life to learning and teaching members of the Mount Pleasant Village about the options that can be exercised as the end of life approaches. Her own final days became a lesson in clear planning and acceptance of death's place in life's arc.
Elizabeth's start in Washington came in the office of Congressman Phil Ruppe of Michigan, who gave her a job when she arrived in the capital fresh out of the University of Kentucky. Eventually earning a Master's degree from George Washington University, Elizabeth went on to work in government relations for the American Institute of Architects, the American College of Physicians, and the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. Her last professional position was as a writer and advocate for PACES Connection, working to increase knowledge about and demand for programs and policies aimed at preventing adverse childhood experiences and building resilience in individuals, systems, families, and communities.
The secret to Elizabeth's professional standing and the love her family, friends, and neighbors felt for her was a rare combination of deep concern for others, gentle thoughtfulness, and a true moral compass. She loved living in Washington and, especially, the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, her home for the last decade and a half of her life. When the brain tumor that killed her was diagnosed, she was relieved to be facing a quick end, as she was grateful for the life she had led and wanted to avoid a prolonged decline if she could. As courageous as it was to forgo intrusive and unpleasant treatment, her decision was an instinctive reflection of her deeply held values. She knew very well that not everyone had the options that came her way.
She is survived by her husband William Emmet and daughter Elizabeth Castaneda. Known as Nookie by her siblings and childhood acquaintances, Elizabeth leaves sisters Sallie Prewitt, Susan Goodrich, Patricia Prewitt, and brother John Prewitt, along with their spouses and their children, her nieces and nephews. She will be missed by her grandchildren Mateas and Tiago Castaneda, step-grandchildren Flora and August Emmet Stewart and Juno Emmet, and stepchildren Nicholas Emmet and Susanna Emmet.
A gathering in Elizabeth's memory will be scheduled in the fall, and her family will inter her ashes in Lexington Cemetery in Kentucky. Donations in her memory can be made to a cause of your choice or to Mount Pleasant Village (mountpleasantvillage.org).