Elizabeth S. Masland

Elizabeth Strayer Masland, the matriarch who loved her extensive family and the outdoors, died on March 15, 2023 in her native Carlisle. She was 101.

Bets, as she was known, was born in Carlisle Hospital near the outset of the Roaring 20s – on Dec. 30, 1921. She knew the man who would become her husband – David S. Masland – almost from birth because their parents were good friends.

His father, Frank Masland Jr., gave Bets the additional nickname “Trouble” as a teenager after an incident in which she and the elder Masland were traveling to the Jersey Shore. Bets successfully encouraged him to make his Stutz Bearcat backfire causing the dismantling of the exhaust system and earning her the nickname which became favored by her David, and would last a lifetime.

Bets graduated from Carlisle High School and from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in physical medicine. From there she was employed as a physical therapist by Jefferson Medical School, where her future husband was a student, and at the National Polio Foundation in Warm Springs, Ga., during the polio epidemic of 1945.

The couple were married on May 17, 1947. Their marriage lasted nearly 67 years, until Dr. Masland’s death in 2014.

Bets was a trustee and board member of Carlisle YWCA, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, a board member and secretary of the Lydia Baird Home, a board member of the Cantate Carlisle, president of the Carlisle Hospital Auxiliary and a member of Second Presbyterian Church.

She was an excellent athlete, the basis for her interest in physical therapy. She loved snow and water skiing, and both terrified and inspired her family by skiing off the dock, on one ski, at the age of 80. She was a beautiful swimmer and loved synchronised swimming with her husband. She loved tennis and played well into her 80’s. In her 60’s, with a decided lack of enthusiasm, she took up golf as something to do with friends and her beloved husband.

Those who knew her well would never think of her as an avid cook, although she always had an edible meal on the table. She preferred to spend her time outdoors and supporting her interests, which included, among others, the Methodist Home for Children in Mechanicsburg and the Diakon Wilderness Center for Youth.

She and her husband shared a love of the natural world, which they imbued in their children and grandchildren. In 1972, after Having both spent many childhood summers in Maine, they bought a little cottage on a Maine lake and enjoyed the outdoor life and wildlife with characteristic devotion, especially the call of the loons. Bets hosted a magnificent variety of birds in her yard, drawn by a multitude of well-stocked feeders; in her later years, these became an even more valuable source of entertainment.

Bets was the daughter of the late Charles and Elsie Strayer of Carlisle. She was preceded in death by her husband, by her siblings, Robert F. Strayer and Dorothy Thompson, and by her daughter Jane Lore Masland.

She is survived by her children: David Sharp Masland Jr., husband of Mary Mentzer, of Carlisle; Jan Strayer Masland, wife of Lawrence Keating, of Lancaster; and Kim Masland Bollinger, wife of David Bollinger, of Carlisle.

In addition, she is survived by seven grandchildren: David Sharp Masland III (husband of Ann), of Carlisle; Melissa Masland Benkovic (wife of Todd Jones), of Gardners, Pa.; Benjamin Masland Keating, of Longmont, Colo.; Elizabeth Masland Keating, of Portland, Maine; Bridget Jane Masland Keating, of Lancaster, Pa.; Sallie Masland Bohlen, of Sinking Spring, Pa.; and Annie Masland Bohlen, of Malta.

She is also survived by two step-grandchildren, Amy Bollinger and David Bollinger III, and four great-grandchildren: Judson Parker Masland, of Carlisle; Virginia Parker Masland, of Carlisle; Phoebe Lore Snyder, of Sinking Spring, Pa.; and Linley Grace Snyder, of Sinking Spring.

There will be a private burial at the convenience of the family at the Mt. Holly Cemetery. Memorial gifts may be sent to Meals on Wheels of Carlisle, PA, 42 Belaire Ave., Carlisle, PA 17013  or Diakon Wilderness Center for Youth, 571 Mountain Rd., Boiling Springs, PA 17007.