Elizabeth Claire Mahler - Obituary

lizabeth Claire Hazlitt Mahler, 96, of Davidsonville, Maryland, died on Sunday morning, November 8, 2026, at home in the company of family. Elizabeth (Betty) Hazlitt was born on March 5, 1930, and raised in Philadelphia. Her father was an accountant for the Pennsylvania Railroad. She graduated from Sharon Hill High School, where she was a majorette. Summers on the Jersey Shore gave her a lifelong love of beaches and the water, and her claim to fame was swimming across Barnegat Bay. Betty met her future husband, Thomas (Tom) Mahler, at a USO dance in Philadelphia, and they married on September 11, 1949. The following year, on June 2, 1950, she earned her diploma in Costume Design and Dressmaking from Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia. Tom's military career soon set the young couple in motion. Together they made their home in Rhode Island; Corpus Christi, Texas; Toms River, New Jersey; Ipswich and Brandeston, England; Clinton, Maryland; and eventually settling in Annapolis, Maryland. Each move forced her to begin again, far from the city where she grew up, and each time she met the challenge, raising six children along the way. She carried her gifts with her wherever she went. A trained dressmaker, she taught sewing classes and shared her skill with others. Her faith was a constant. She served on the Ladies Altar Guild at Christ Episcopal Church in Clinton, St. Anne's Episcopal Church in downtown Annapolis, and St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Annapolis. She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas; her son, Robert; and her sister, Phyllis Thedford. She is survived by her children, Deborah Rusk (Mike), Arlene Coccia (Dave), Terry McDougall, Gloria Mahaffey (Chuck) and Toni Richards (Jim); 11 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren. A service will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, at Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 4012 Birdsville Road, Davidsonville with a reception to follow in the church hall. Interment will follow at 2 p.m. at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Annapolis, 1601 Pleasant Plains Rd, Annapolis, MD 21409.