Estelle W. Badger, age 90 of Glen Mills, PA, passed away on June 11, 2017. She was born on February 13, 1927 in Baltimore, MD to the late John Tull Ward and Bertha Henrietta (Gerland) Ward.

Estelle was a very proud graduate of Eastern High School in Baltimore, MD. After graduation, she put her expert typing, short-hand, and transcription skills to good work as a legal secretary, a profession that she truly loved. Once she married and began her family, Estelle stayed home to raise her children for the better part of the next three decades. In the 1970s, Estelle took courses to become a tax consultant. She went on to work for H&R Block in the Baltimore District and quickly became an office manager. She retired with more than 25 years of service.

Estelle was also very involved in numerous community activities. She was in her late teens when WWII started. She served as a USO girl and attended numerous dances near Ft Meade. She became great friends with many members of the military but had a particular affinity for sailors. As a mother, she was a class parent and organized PTO events for all three of her children’s schools. Additionally, she was a community activist and was very involved in the issues of the time as they related to taxes and education in particular. She was a member of Bethesda United Methodist Church in Baltimore, MD. There she was a volunteer church secretary as well as leader of her Sunday School class. Estelle loved dancing, and she and her husband would frequently go ballroom dancing with a group at the Hamilton Recreation Center. After moving to Delaware, she became an active member of Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Newark, DE. She also became a member of the Newark Senior Center where she took up acting and was in over ten plays. This is when she discovered a hidden talent, her ability for improvisation. After moving to Maris Grove Retirement Community, she participated in a number of their dramatic club activities and enjoyed that immensely.

Estelle and her husband, Arvin, loved traveling. Their adventures began when in 1967, the family took a month long vacation to travel throughout the United States. After that, they continued to travel in the US, the Caribbean, and Canada. Estelle was a baking enthusiast and quite famous for all of her desserts. She baked cookies, cakes, and pies for any and all occasions. Every Christmas, she would create cookie trees which held her cookies as the decorations. When her children and grandchildren had a birthday, she was famous for her birthday cakes that were in the shape of the number that someone was turning. She made the best chocolate chip cookies, and over the years it has been proven that no one else will ever be able to replicate them. Estelle loved her family dearly and especially enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Estelle was also a huge sports fan with her favorite teams including the Baltimore Colts, the Baltimore Orioles, the Baltimore Ravens, and the University of Maryland Terps.

Estelle is survived by her children: John Badger and his wife, Barbara of Camden, DE, Don Badger and his wife, Candace of Raleigh, NC, and Deborah Klenk and her husband, Thomas of Elkton, MD and Arvin’s son, Ron Mathews and his wife, Marilyn of Asheville, NC; sister, Jean Fitschen and her husband, Werner of New Windsor, MD; grandchildren: Catherine, Emily, Diane, Jessica, Brian, Amanda, Maggie, Penny, and Mickey; several great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren, and countless nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by Arvin Badger, her loving husband of 57 plus years.

Her family will celebrate Estelle’s life on Monday, June 19, 2017 at 12:00 pm at Bethesda United Methodist Church, 6300 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214 with a private visitation beginning at 11:30 am. Burial will follow the service at Gardens of Faith Memorial Gardens, 5598 Trumps Mill Road, Baltimore, MD 21206. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made payable to “Bethesda United Methodist Church” and sent in care of R.T. Foard & Jones, Inc., 122 W. Main Street, Newark, DE 19711.