Obituary of Darlene A. Sommers

Darlene A. Sommers passed on Monday, February 18, 2013, at her home in Sterling attended to by her loving and caring husband of 62 years, Walt. Darlene recently celebrated her 86th birthday in the company of her four children, 5 grandchildren and a most recent great grandchild. Darlene was born February 4th, 1927, in Grove City, PA, the daughter of Stella Ross and James Earl Hughes. Growing up, she lived in several Pennsylvania towns near Pittsburgh where her father served as a Presbyterian Pastor at multiple churches simultaneously. As a teen during the WW2 years she served as a volunteer aircraft spotter, taught Sunday school and was president of the young women's missionary society and later attended Indiana State Teachers College, PA, studying education. Attending a local dance with friends in Columbus Ohio, she met her future husband Walt with whom she danced all night long. They were married in Evans City, PA, on October 14, 1950, and enjoyed dancing together since, participating in Round and Square Dancing groups in the Washington DC area. As her children grew older, she started a career in elementary education working with children in the Fairfax County Schools of Hunters Woods in Reston and Herndon Elementary. She was always active in her churches, Vienna Presbyterian where she a long term member of the choir and a Sunday school teacher for many years. Moving from Vienna to Sterling in the early 1990's, she became an active member at the Trinity Presbyterian in Herndon. She was always involved in the "PW" Presbyterian Women's group and served as the group president. She also led the quilt making for Trinity's "ABC Quilts" efforts that provides comfortable quilts for many children ill with HIV/AIDS. She was also a long time member of the Herndon Women's club. Darlene's long struggle with cancer took her from this world and she is survived by her Husband Walt, Children; Sue Jelinski, Sandy Baumler, Robert and David Sommers, Grandchildren; Brad Jelinski and Jenny (Jelinski) Grech, Jason, Russell and Ellen Baumler and Great Grandchild Eleanor Grech.