Beulah Munshower Sommer, 91, passed away on Saturday, December 13, 2014 at her home. Born on September 15, 1923 at the Frederick Memorial Hospital, she was the daughter of the late Colonel Elmer and Nellie Munshower. She attended Frederick schools and graduated from Hood College in 1944, with further study at American University, University of Maryland and Frederick Community College. She worked as a social worker in Baltimore City. Beulah married John Gustave Sommer of Hagerstown, Maryland in 1946, moved to Washington D.C. and worked as an Information Specialist in the Adjutant General's office in the Pentagon. Beulah taught at Bethesda Elementary School before moving to Germany with her husband and daughter where they lived for three and a half years. They traveled extensively in Europe, North African, and around the Mediterrean Sea. Upon returning to the United States, she became a docent at the National Gallery of Art, then a tour guide at the Hillwood Museum, a docent at Dumbarton House, and as an aide at the Washington National Cathedral. With John, she continued to travel around the world while he conducted microcomputer seminars. Beulah amassed a very large collection of crches that she donated to the Washington National Cathedral in 1998 and later more to the Hood College Library. Her other interests included writing and lecturing on the history of tea, symbolism in art, and the history of crches. She is the co-author of Tea with Presidential Families. Beulah has been a member of the Frederick Junior Civic Club, Hillandale Women's Club, the 20th Century Club, DAR, Washington Club, American Association of University Women, International Welcome to Washington and a fifty-year member of the P.E.O. sisterhood. In 2000, she moved to Buckingham's Choice, a retirement community, and continued to travel, enjoyed new friends, served on the Hood College Board of Associates and was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Point of Rocks, Maryland. Beulah was a stylish lady in the truest sense of the word, who always wanted to learn something new, and had a wonderful love and enthusiasm for life. Beulah was preceded in death by her husband, John G. Sommer in 1987. She is survived by her daughter, Sandy and husband, George Fisher of Charlotte, North Carolina. She will also be remembered by her many friends, especially those at the Buckingham's Choice. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 20, 2014 at 1:00 PM at Buckingham's Choice, 3200 Baker Circle Adamstown, Maryland. The Reverend Elaine Prince will officiate. A private interment will be at the Mount Olivet Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the John and Beulah Sommer Scholarship Fund, Development Office, Hood College, 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick, Maryland 21701. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.keeneybasford.com
