Elizabeth Hempe Robertson

Elizabeth Hempe Robertson, age 93, died March 22, 2017, due to complications from a spinal stroke she suffered in December, 2016. She was born on February 5, 1924, in Easton, Pennsylvania to Emilie Pfersich and Fredrick Hempe (formally Hippe), German immigrants. Elizabeth adored her father, an accomplished violinist, who would play her to sleep with Bach and Mozart lullabies. He died when she was only 11 years old. Elizabeth Robertson was a known beauty; she was elected May Queen in her early years at school and voted the prettiest girl in her high school class. During World War II she was a popular volunteer with the USO. She had four siblings, one of whom, Herbert Hempe, was a bomber pilot who was killed in World War II at the age of 21. One other sibling, Carl Hempe, was Mr. America in 1939. Another sibling, Paul Hempe, was in the Air Force and had several tours in Vietnam. She graduated from Easton High School. She was also very intelligent. Though like many women of her generation, she did not have the opportunity to go to college, she worked as a proof reader for a publishing house, showing a command of English grammar. She had several marriage proposals, but she married the man she had a crush on since age 13, Preston Breckenridge Robertson. After marriage at 19, she became a homemaker. Her husband predeceased her on July 24, 1980. She became a widow at age 56 but never remarried. She is survived by her five children: Herbert Robertson, Anne Lott, Jessie Altman (and her husband, James Altman), Elizabeth Black and Marshall Robertson (and his wife, Denise Robertson). She is also survived by her four grandchildren, Jennifer Cameron (and her husband, James Cameron, and their two children), Levana Lott (and her fiancé, Nate Reese), Rastus Lott (and his wife, Nicolle Lott), and John Altman (and his partner, Liam Watkins) as well as many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.