Mary Elizabeth Olmsted, 88, a longtime Lake Forest civic volunteer, died Wednesday in Lake Forest Hospital of congestive heart failure. Mrs. Olmsted was an active member of the Women’s Board of Lake Forest College and a longtime member of the Guild of the Chicago Historical Society. In 1971, she became the guild’s chairman. She also was an early member of the Women’s Board of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and was elected board president in 1970. After serving as president of the Lake Forest Center of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago, she became president of the auxiliaries in 1953, and also was appointed the society’s director. Survivors include a son, Conway H. Olmsted Jr.; three daughters, Phyllis Fletcher, April Vehslage and Ethel Hansen; a sister, Mrs. Otis Hubbard; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Church of the Holy Spirit, 400 E. Westminster Ave., Lake Forest.
