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Mary Elizabeth Fyffe Chiswell

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Birth	:	8 Oct 1902 Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
Death	:	14 Apr 2007 Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
Burial	:	Fort Jackson National Cemetery, Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate	:	34.0900560, -80.8490750
Plot	:	Row G, Lot 20, Site 5
Description	:	Parents: - Isaac Fyffe [1874-1947] - Elizabeth Dade (Darby) Fyffe [1874-1956] Married Carroll Thomas Chiswell in 1936. Graduate of Poolesville High School, Class of 1919. Tribute Montgomery County Schools Mrs. Mary Chiswell, 104, of Poolesville, died April 14, 2007. Mary was the oldest member of MCPSRA as well as the oldest citizen in Poolesville. She taught school in Montgomery County for 40 years. She lived in the same house in which she was born and grew up. She said, "I am the only person born here and still living here 100 years later." After retiring, Mary wanted to do two things: to learn to hook rugs and... Read More	Parents: - Isaac Fyffe [1874-1947] - Elizabeth Dade (Darby) Fyffe [1874-1956] Married Carroll Thomas Chiswell in 1936. Graduate of Poolesville High School, Class of 1919. Tribute Montgomery County Schools Mrs. Mary Chiswell, 104, of Poolesville, died April 14, 2007. Mary was the oldest member of MCPSRA as well as the oldest citizen in Poolesville. She taught school in Montgomery County for 40 years. She lived in the same house in which she was born and grew up. She said, "I am the only person born here and still living here 100 years later." After retiring, Mary wanted to do two things: to learn to hook rugs and to travel from coast to coast. She accomplished both and much much more. An extraordinary lady, Mary will be missed by her family, friends and the Poolesville community. Obituary The Frederick News-Post Monday, April 16, 2007 Mrs. Mary Fyffe Chiswell, 104, of Poolesville, died Saturday, April 14, 2007, at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville. She was the wife of the late Carroll Chiswell, who died in 1977. They were married in 1936. Mrs. Chiswell graduated from Towson State Normal School and taught elementary school in Montgomery County for more than 40 years. She was a lifelong member of St. Peters Episcopal Church and the oldest living citizen in Poolesville. Surviving are numerous cousins, great-nieces and great-nephews and her caregiver, Rosa Abell. Mrs. Chiswell was preceded in death by her sister, Virginia Fyffe Peddicord. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 17, at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 20100 Fisher Ave., Poolesville, MD 20837. Interment will follow in Monocacy Cemetery, Beallsville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Peter's Building Fund, P.O. Box 387, Poolesville, MD 20837. Homily: Fearless Girl, Wise Woman, Beloved Sister The Rev. Charles Hoffacker Yesterday I sat at home, pondering the loss of the senior member of this parish and the senior resident of this town when a volume on the bookshelf caught my eye. On its spine was the title "Fearless Girls, Wise Women, Beloved Sisters." I took the book from the shelf and noticed the subtitle on the front cover, Heroines in Folktales from Around the World. As I flipped through the extensive table of contents, I noticed sections devoted to tales from Europe, North and South America, Asia, the Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. On that morning, however, I suppose the section I wanted to find was stories from Montgomery County, Maryland, believing that this collection might contain a true tale, the story of Mary Fyffe Chiswell and the town of Poolesville. For it seems to me that Mary measured up to the title of that book. Over the course of her long life, she proved to be a fearless girl, a wise woman, and a beloved sister. As we remember Mary, we would do well to look back past recent decades to her early years, a time that few if any of us here can remember for ourselves. When travel was not as ordinary as it is now, and when higher education was not as available as now, Mary headed off at a young age to college to follow the example of her teachers and become a teacher herself. She crammed two years of study into one and soon was back in this area, no longer a student here, but a teacher. She left a fearless girl; she returned a fearless woman. Starting the year after World War I ended, and continuing through the year after John Kennedy died, Mary Chiswell taught school, first in Darnestown, then back in Poolesville. Much of her forty-five years as a teacher were spent in this community among second graders. Some of you here today were perhaps her pupils, or perhaps your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents sat at those little desks with Mary Chiswell at the front of the room. And if you've ever taught elementary school, if you've ever raised young children, if you were ever a child yourself, then perhaps you can realize it takes a certain fearlessness to appear day after day in front of a room of more than twenty second graders as their teacher. So there was something fearless about Mary. She was also a wise woman. Many of you knew her for decades and are more aware of this wisdom than I am. Since I came to Poolesville, my time as Mary's pastor has amounted to only six-tenths of one percent of her life here at St. Peter's. Yet even in the brief opportunity I had, it was easy to recognize in Mary a wisdom that showed itself in such characteristics as simplicity, joy, and acceptance of other people. Something I've learned in the ordained ministry is that while it's the prerogative of a priest or bishop to give a blessing at certain points in public worship, there are other people who bestow a blessing in the ordinary course of life. Often they do so simply by showing up. Mary Chiswell was such a person in later years. She bestowed a blessing simply by showing up among the people of this congregation, the citizens of this community, and her numerous friends and former students. By her manner of life she demonstrated that the later decades need not be an anti-climax, but can be lived as a fine fruition of what went before. She gave to all of us younger people the hope and desire that we might grow old as gracefully as she did. A couple years ago, I am told, the rector of St. Peter's hosted small gatherings of parishioners to strengthen the ties among members of this church. On one such occasion, each person took a turn saying how long he or she had been a member here. The first person said he'd been here thirty-one years. A true pillar of the church. A woman then said she'd been at St. Peter seventy-some years. Lengthy commitment, still going strong. Then it was Mary Chiswell's turn. With a gentle smile she responded, "I've been a member of St. Peter's for a hundred and two years." Certainly in a class by herself! The psalm used in today's service as well as most of the hymns are recommendations that Mary made for this occasion. More than a century as a Christian no doubt caused the language of the Psalter, the Hymnal, the Prayer Book––the language of worship––to soak into her soul and shape her life and conduct in ways past the power of human speech to describe. This beloved sister in Christ has left us to join a choir far greater than any to be heard here, and she has gone forth with a heart ready and well prepared. Source

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Mary Elizabeth Fyffe Chiswell's memorial?
Mary Elizabeth Fyffe Chiswell's memorial is located at: Fort Jackson National Cemetery, Columbia, Richland County, USA.
When did Mary Elizabeth Fyffe Chiswell death?
Mary Elizabeth Fyffe Chiswell death on 14 Apr 2007 in Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Mary Elizabeth Fyffe Chiswell's memorial?
Latitude: 34.0900560
Longitude: -80.8490750

Family Members:

Parent

Isaac Fyffe

(1874 - 1947)

Elizabeth Dade “Bettie” Darby Fyffe

(1874 - 1956)

Spouse

Carroll Thomas Chiswell

(1899 - 1982)

Siblings

Evelyn Darby Fyffe

(1910 - 1913)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Fort Jackson National Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0900560, -80.8490750

2. Ford Family Graves
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0919930, -80.8771630

3. Spears Creek Baptist Church Cemetery
Pontiac, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1042140, -80.8249520

4. Salem Methodist Church Cemetery
Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0886002, -80.8116989

5. Spring Valley Presbyterian Memorial Gardens
Spring Valley, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1124482, -80.8804385

6. Enon Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0661011, -80.8788986

7. Royal Pines Independent Holiness Church Cemetery
Pontiac, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1211310, -80.8694600

8. Richland County Cemetery
Pontiac, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1223570, -80.8677770

9. Northeast Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0961690, -80.8919480

10. Saint Davids Episcopal Church Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0961790, -80.8929210

11. Saint John Neumann Catholic Church Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1033800, -80.8967150

12. Midway Methodist Church Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0756080, -80.8983890

13. Spring Valley Pentecostal Holiness Church Cemetery
Pontiac, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1100630, -80.8961530

14. Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery
Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0514000, -80.8178000

15. Oak Grove Baptist Church
Elgin, Kershaw County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1368770, -80.8513150

16. Macedonia Cemetery
Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0483017, -80.8846970

17. Corley Chapel Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0749454, -80.9081729

18. Alpine Baptist Church Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0650500, -80.9053840

19. Old Macedonia Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0664260, -80.9073220

20. Sandy Run Protestant Methodist Church Cemetery
Pontiac, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1475990, -80.8548260

21. Greenhaven Memorial Gardens
Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1479590, -80.8245330

22. Jacobs Mission A.M.E. Church Cemetery
Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1548030, -80.8506160

23. Enon Southern Methodist Church Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.0569680, -80.9173300

24. Northeast Wesleyan Church Cemetery
Columbia, Richland County, USA
Coordinate: 34.1171350, -80.9236410