Elizabeth Shirley Gibson Baumgardner

Elizabeth Shirley (Gibson) Baumgardner ended her journey of 99 years on this earth on April 20, 2019. She began her life's adventures on May 6, 1920 in Greensburg, Kansas with parents Abraham and Amy (Wilder) Gibson and brother Robert (now 101). Soon after attending Fort Hays, Kansas College, Elizabeth was working in Macon GA with girls in the Appleton home for girls where she met and married Kenneth Baumgardner (1916-2002) in 1942. They had three children: Kenille, Darrel, and Vivian (Lord), three grandchildren: Branson Prosser, Alana Lord and Jeremy Baumgardner and three great grandchildren: Elizabeth, Julian and Dylan Prosser. Elizabeth arrived in Gainesville, Georgia in 1963. She moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina in 2008 where she enjoyed concerts and ballets with her daughter, Kenille, and the many activities of her great grandchildren until her death in 2019. She was also known to her fellow residents as the puzzle lady and pool shark.

After receiving her master's degree in special education from the University of Georgia, Elizabeth taught for a while, but then her passion found its niche in tutoring older students, especially from different cultures. During this time she joined a writer's club where her prolific writing of poetry and prose won her many awards. Her perfectionism was on display in the many outfits she sewed, not only for her family and friends, but in the many costumes she designed and created for local theater, often acting in these plays herself. The smell of homemade bread or cookies was always a part of the homes in Texas, New York, Oklahoma, Maryland, and then Georgia. Elizabeth remained especially interested in theater in addition to the Conflict Resolution Academic Programs at Brenau College.

Elizabeth was one whose love of family, friends and students was exemplified, not in words, but in her unselfish dedication towards encouraging all those who knew and loved her to go beyond the expectation of others, and reach for the impossible that has no limitations. Memorial gifts may be given to the Elizabeth Baumgardner Peace Award for Mediation given at Brenau University, Attn: Matt Thomas, 500 Washington Street, SE, Gainesville, Georgia 30501 or on line at giving.brenau.edu/give-online/

A service of Bright Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 405 S. Main St., Wake Forest. (919) 556-5811
www.brightfunerals.com

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.