HEATHSVILLE—Elizabeth “Lizzie” Rathlev passed away of natural causes in her home in Heathsville on October 8, 2021. She was 65.
Lizzie was born in New Jersey in 1956 to Arnold and Catherine Rathlev as the fourth of six children. As the daughter of a career Army officer, Lizzie lived and traveled in Europe, where she learned to ski, one of her favorite pastimes in her youth.
The Rathlev’s then moved to New York, before settling in New Jersey, where Lizzie attended Red Bank Catholic High School. She went to Plymouth State College in New Hampshire for art and education, then returned to New Jersey to teach art in elementary school.
While she loved art and continued to create pen and ink drawings, paintings, wood carvings and embroidery until her death, she decided to make a career change and attend the Stuart School of Business. After that she parlayed an administrative job into her second career in IT, working on mainframe computers and then PCs in the dawn of that era.
Her career took her to Texas, where she had the first two of her five children. She then returned to New Jersey, and focused full time on raising her family of three boys and two girls. As her kids grew older, Lizzie returned to work initially in kitchen restoration and re-modeling, food service and home healthcare.
Lizzie moved with her family to South Carolina for a time, returned to New Jersey once again, then finally settled in Virginia for the remainder of her life.
Lizzie is survived by brother, George Rathlev; and sisters, Deborah Marl, Suzanne Rathlev and Mary Russo; as well as her beloved children, Andrew, Christine, Ryan, Grant and Bridgette.
She will be remembered for the art she has left with us, her laughter and her love for her children.
Currie Funeral Home LLC of Kilmarnock handled the arrangements.
