Wilma Escourt (nee Stoute) Landfried, wife of Harold Hobart Landfried (1923-1995)
Born: May 10, 1924, Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies.

Survived by son Gregory Landfried, daughter-in-law Catherine Thomas, daughter Sandra (nee Landfried) Kraft, son-in-law John Kraft, son Terrence Landfried, daughter-in-law Stephanie Landfried, son Christopher Landfried, grandsons David Bostetter, John Kraft, Jr. and Steven Kraft, granddaughters Melinda (nee Landfried) Workman, Alexis Bostetter, Gabrielle Bostetter and Christina Landfried, great granddaughter Savannah Workman and brother Louis Stoute.

The second child of Vernon Escourt Stoute and Iris Lillian Doreen (nee Blanchette) Stoute, and sister to brothers Everton Escourt Stoute (1922-2008) and Louis Edison Stoute (b. 1925), she attended school at the Ursaline Convent in Bridgetown. She studied piano, first under her Aunt Gladys Stoute, and became an accomplished pianist. She attended James Street Methodist Church where she sang in the choir. After finishing secondary school, and with few opportunities on the small island of Barbados, she enlisted in the British Army at age 20, during World War II. Following boot camp in Canada, she was assigned to the British Embassy in Washington, DC, where she joined her childhood friend Norma Sayres. There she worked as Assistant to the Australian Attaché of the Ambassador. She enjoyed dancing, tennis, swimming, and singing in the choir at Mt Vernon Place United Methodist Church in Northwest, DC. She also enjoyed weekend train trips with her girlfriends to New York City. The friendships she formed with her Army roommates, Yolande Johnson and Dorothy Cullen, lasted her entire lifetime.

Through adult Sunday school at Mt Vernon Place UMC, she met Harold Landfried, an Electronics Engineer, who eventually enjoyed a long career with the Department of Defense, Naval Air Systems Command. Within six months they were engaged and soon after married, on July 16, 1955. Before the birth of her third child, Terry, Wilma’s mother Iris came to live with the growing family and help raise the children. Wilma stopped her career to raise her four children, while still teaching piano students from home, and volunteering at her children’s schools. Annual summer vacations were enjoyed at the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Once the nest was empty and Harold retired, they enjoyed doing volunteer work at Dulin UMC, to include “Meals on Wheels” food delivery to shut-ins. They especially enjoyed being trained through the church to act as Stephen Ministries counselors. Wilma continued to sing in the choir at Dulin UMC, and later at Sudley UMC, even as a soloist into her eighties. A devout Christian, she read the bible, read devotionals, and prayed daily. Wilma was caregiver to Harold during his battle with cancer until his passing in 1995, and then to her mother Iris until her passing in 1998, four months short of her 100th birthday. Other surviving relatives are found in Barbados, Trinidad, New York, Connecticut, Toronto, Montreal, London, France and India, among other places around the globe.

The family will receive visitors on Wednesday, February 7, 2018 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at Sudley United Methodist Church, 5308 Sudley Road, Manassas, Virginia. A funeral service will begin at 11:30 am. with Pastor Hyo Lee officiating.

Interment will immediately follow the service at Fairfax Memorial Park, 9900 Braddock Road, Fairfax, Virginia.

Please sign the guestbook at www.bakerpostfh.com

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