Elsa Anne Bray Kieffer's Obituary
Elsa Anne (Bray) Kieffer, age 64, of Millsboro, DE, passed away on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at her home in The Peninsula community. She was born on December 16, 1958, in Tachikawa Air Force Base, Tokyo, Japan, and was the daughter of the late Huly Edwin and Elsa Maria (Rivas) Bray of Bethesda, MD.
Elsa attended Carderock Elementary School and Cabin John Middle School in Montgomery County, MD, and graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda in 1977. She then attended the University of Maryland where she received a BA degree in Life Sciences.
Elsa had a long career at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD and worked for many years in the Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR). She retired from NIH in 2006 as Senior Advisor in the NIH Consensus Development Program. She felt a great amount of pride in the work that she did at NIH.
Elsa was a natural and gifted athlete and as a young girl excelled at many sports including swimming, diving, and gymnastics. While working at NIH she was a member of the NIH Judo Club and obtained the rank of Shodan (first degree black belt). In 2016 she took up the sport of pickleball and excelled at it. She developed many pickleball friendships in the Rehoboth Beach, Delaware area. From 2011 to 2017, Elsa served as the guardian for her disabled aunt, Maria Elisa “Eli” Rivas. The time spent with her family and those she held dear was what Elsa cherished most. She was a loving and incredibly sweet person who will be deeply missed by all whose lives she touched.
Elsa is survived by her loving husband, Craig Kieffer; her siblings, Jon Bray (Marjory), Katherine Murphy (Bobby Levin), Maria Christmas (Brendan McNelis), James Bray (Argelia), Patricia Swarm, and Phillip Bray (Jennifer); her nieces and nephews, Jocelyn Puccio (PJ), Jamie, Dimitri, Joseph and Andrew Bray, Bryce Swarm (Samantha), Christopher Bray (Tiffany), Matthew Bray (Henrietta), and Elizabeth Horan (Kevin); her great-nieces and great-nephews, Liliana and Philip Puccio, Isla and Ava Swarm, Riley, Cooper, Liam and Ruby Bray, and Dolan Horan; her stepson, Joey Keiffer (Jeannette); her step-grandson, Jaxon Kieffer; her sister-in-law, Cyndee Schoenhoff and her dear friend, Nancy Charlton.
A celebration of life service will be held on 1 April 2023 at 1:00 PM at the Bethesda Marriott, 5151 Pooks Hill Road, Bethesda, MD. All friends and family are invited to attend. Contact Elsa's husband (301-356-2352) for further information.
Please sign Elsa’s virtual guestbook located on the tribute page.
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