Elizabeth Weil Fisher

Elizabeth “Betty” Weil Fisher passed away peacefully in her sleep in Ithaca, NY on November 22, 2022. Born to Herman Weil and Elizabeth Bogle Weil of Goldsboro, NC on August 15, 1926, Betty graduated from high school in 1942. She attended Sweet Briar College for two years before transferring to UNC Chapel Hill where she earned a ScB degree in Mathematics in 1946.

After college Betty enrolled in graduate courses in chemistry, while also working as a math instructor. Drawn by the excitement of city life, she accepted a job at Shell Oil Company and relocated to Manhattan. Next, she became the first woman to enter Merrill Lynch’s Executive Training Program. After completing the program Betty was a stockbroker in New York, then briefly in Kinston, NC, before returning to the city to work as a reporter and researcher for Fortune Magazine.

In 1957 Betty married William Benton Fisher, Jr. and moved to Washington DC, which she considered home for the rest of her life. In 1959 the Navy transferred Benton to Naples, Italy where their elder daughter was born. Two years later the Fishers returned to DC, where the arrival of another daughter completed their family.

In DC Betty initially worked for Fortune Magazine. She later enjoyed a busy career as a freelance researcher and editor for a variety of clients including the National Geographic Society, the National Academy of Sciences, and the White House Historical Society. She was still being offered work projects at age 90 when she relocated to Ithaca to be closer to one of her daughters.

Betty and Benton were legendary hosts. In the subterranean dining room of their Georgetown home, they held lively dinner parties for large groups of all ages. They also enjoyed hosting overnight guests. An unofficial ambassador of goodwill for the nation’s capital, Betty treated many a visitor to her guided night tour of the monuments. After 20 years in Georgetown, Betty and Benton moved to Observatory Circle. Betty was widowed in 2003, and moved to the Kennedy-Warren on Connecticut Avenue in 2013.

Gregarious and outgoing, Betty quickly made a friend of every stranger she met, whether she was out walking the dog or dining in a crowded restaurant. She maintained friendships with people decades older and younger than herself. Betty was always prepared to share an entertaining story, and didn’t hesitate to embellish facts to enhance her tale. She was an avid reader and bridge player. Betty was devoted to the string of stray cats and dogs she rescued over the years. She also raised a rabbit, a squirrel, an opossum, and countless baby birds and turtles. She was a lifelong traveler with a sense of adventure and “an itchy foot,” as she described it.

Betty retained her ties to North Carolina where she kept up with friends and nurtured close relationships with the three children of her younger sister, Mina (Mimi) Weil Underwood. Her annual visit to Atlantic Beach was a highlight until she was well into her 90s. She enjoyed searching for wentletraps on the beach, bodysurfing, jumping waves and bobbing in the ocean.

Betty was predeceased by her sister, her husband, and one grandson, Paul Fisher-York. She leaves behind two daughters and sons-in-law, Elizabeth and Thomas Fisher-York of Ithaca NY, and Anne and Gary Vollen of San Francisco, three grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. An informal celebration of her life will take place in Washington DC in 2023. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in her memory to a charity of your choice.