Rebekah L. Metzler
1949-2020
Rebekah Lee Metzler of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, died Saturday, April 11, 2020, at Hospice of the Panhandle, Kearneysville, West Virginia.
She was 70 years old and had resided in Berkeley Springs since 1989.
She was born August 21, 1949 in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and later moved with her parents and older brother first to Red Bank, New Jersey, and later to Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
Rebekah, who was known to family and many of her friends as “Becky,” was a 1967 graduate of Red Bank Regional High School, attended Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio for two years, completed the Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School course for administrative assistants, and attended night classes at the University of Maryland while working for US News and World Report magazine.
She completed her bachelor’s degree with honors in criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston, and then earned her master’s degree in criminal justice from American University in Washington, D.C.
Rebekah’s employment history reflected her lifelong commitment to social change, fairness, and equality of opportunity. To every position she brought her non-judgmental treatment of others. She worked as an on-site property manager for the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) in Maryland, as a part-time residential counselor for the Jewish Foundation Group Homes, as a liaison and advocate for one of the clients of JFGH, and then worked for the customer service department of Citi Bank in Hagerstown, Maryland. She retired from Citi Bank in 2012 after more than fifteen years.
At each place she attended school or worked, Rebekah cultivated a circle of friends that became part of her lifelong extended family.
She was a passionate bridge player, organizer of dinners and parties and an insatiable reader who loved her family, her friends, their children and the color purple. She played bridge as often as possible, both duplicate and party bridge, and as a member of the American Contract Bridge League, Rebekah played in tournaments where she amassed 110 masters’ points over time.
She was a strong supporter of the Berkeley Springs public library, sent cards and notes for every holiday to the children of her family and friends, and most recently had volunteered as a tutor/mentor in the Berkeley Springs public schools.
Throughout her life Rebekah made a point to leave loose change around the interior of her car. She would then hire a young person to clean with the stipulation that any change they found would belong to them.
Rebekah was preceded in death by her parents, Dr. John Metzler and Marion Lee Fair Metzler, and her older brother, John Metzler of Florida.
She is survived by her uncle and aunt, Dr. Ron Fair and his wife Patty of Colorado; her aunt Helen Fair of Pennsylvania, and many cousins whose friendship Rebekah cherished.
A memorial gathering will be planned for later in the year when conditions permit for friends and family to celebrate and remember our friend Becky.
Online condolences may be expressed at www.helsleyjohnsonfh.com.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to one’s favorite charity.
Arrangements are being handled by Helsley-Johnson Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 95 Union Street, Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
paid obituary
