Elizabeth Lord Obituary

Elizabeth (Beth) Swanson Lord was born on April 13, 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of Charlie & Joy (Swift) Lord, and died on May 17, 2020 in Chase City, VA, of complications from covid-19. When she was about 6 months old, her parents moved to Grinnell, Iowa, where they lived and farmed with Charlie's father. In 1953 her parents accepted a leading to become missionaries for the United Church of Christ, and the family (now with 3 children) went to Chikore Mission in southeastern Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). In 1963 Beth and her younger sister Donna came back to the U.S. by themselves to attend Olney Friends Boarding School in Barnesville, Ohio, where Beth graduated in 1966. She especially loved the holidays and summer spending time with grandma in Richmond, Indiana, with grandpa on the farm in Iowa, and with various cousins. Charlie and Joy moved back to the U.S. in 1966, in time for Beth's graduation. Beth attended Wilmington College, finishing 3 years while majoring in Sociology. In 1974 she married William Hanna, and they lived in Atlantic City and Camden, New Jersey. William died in 1980 and Beth moved to Lawrence, Kansas. She became very devoted to her church, the Mustard Seed, where she was active in Bible Study, adult Sunday school, and an International Students group linked with the University of Kansas. She had a regular ministry of visiting folks in a nursing home near the church. She also sang in the choir and made the coffee for the fellowship hour. After being hospitalized following a manic bipolar episode in 2012 she could no longer live independently, and moved to Chase City Nursing and Rehab to be close to her sister and brother-in-law in southern Virginia. Beth loved telling jokes, and collected them by the thousands. She was a lifelong avid reader. She loved giving hugs and holding babies, and loved animals – she would pet every dog that owners would allow her to! She loved adult Sunday school, at which she would often sing her favorite hymn, In the Garden. She is survived by sister Donna (Brian Little), brother Ron (Jenny), nephew Colm O'Reilly, and nieces Rachel Lord and Hannah Just, and several grandnephews and grandnieces. Her ashes will be interred at the Westfield Church Cemetery, Grinnell, Iowa, near her parent's graves.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Olney Friends Boarding School, 61830 Sandy Ridge Rd, Barnesville OH 43713, or online at: https://www.olneyfriends.org/support-olney/