Elizabeth Ellen Sylvester (née Ulsaker) passed away peacefully on July 19, 2026, with her husband, Patrick Kelley, by her side. Elizabeth was born on October 7, 1928, near Kindred, North Dakota, to Mabel Helling and Andrew Ulsaker. Both her maternal and paternal grandparents emigrated with their families from Hemsedal, Norway, and settled on land along the Sheyenne River in Kindred. Elizabeth and her four siblings grew up helping with the family farm during the Great Depression.

After graduating from Kindred High School, she traveled extensively, and lived and worked in Aspen, Colorado; Yellowstone, Wyoming; Berkeley, California; and Sauda, Norway. She attended North Dakota State University and worked as a legal secretary in Fargo, North Dakota, before taking an opportunity in Washington DC to work on Capitol Hill in the office of North Dakota Senator Milton Young in 1956. There she met a young legislative aide to the Senator, Christopher Sylvester, and the two married in 1959, settling in Washington DC. In 1966, they moved to McLean, Virginia, where they raised their three children. Elizabeth obtained her real estate license in the mid-1970s and enjoyed success as a real estate agent in Fairfax County, Virginia, for more than 20 years.

She and the family enjoyed many summer vacations at Pelican Lake, MN; Capon Springs, WV; and Bethany Beach, DE. She always looked forward to her time at Pelican Lake, site of many large family gatherings with games of Scrabble, dinners of Walleye and freshly baked pies, and sunset pontoon rides. After Chris’s passing in 2000, she met Patrick Kelley of Purcellville, Virginia. They enjoyed traveling the world together and dancing. They married in 2016. In retirement, Elizabeth was an active member of Redeemer Lutheran Church and Tuckahoe Recreation Club in McLean, and an avid bridge player.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Christopher Urdahl Sylvester; siblings Inez (Robert) Caldwell, Norma (William) Sholl, Esther Mae (Robert) Amstrup, and Norman (June) Ulsaker. Elizabeth is survived by her second husband Patrick Kelley; her three children Margarethe Hardwick, Kirsten Shumway (Martin), and Hans Sylvester; six grandchildren, Christopher (Katie) Hardwick; Alex Hardwick, Peter Shumway, Ingrid Shumway, Ava Sylvester and Iris Sylvester; and sister-in-law Jean Stenehjem.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Elizabeth’s name to N Street Village.