Lillian H. Vansant, 97, educator, dairy farmer

Lillian H. Vansant, who owned and operated a Baltimore County dairy farm with her husband, died in her sleep Tuesday at Mays Chapel Ridge retirement community in Timonium. She was 97.

Lillian Heiser was born in Baltimore and raised in the city's Irvington neighborhood. She was a graduate of the State Normal School in Towson, now Towson University, and did graduate work at New York University.

Mrs. Vansant began teaching in city elementary schools in the 1920s and later taught business education at Western High School.

"She met her future husband, W. Kenneth Vansant, who was a teacher at Western High School, and married in 1926," said her daughter, Sally Souris Snell of Hunt Valley. Mr. Vansant retired in 1963 from City College, where he had been the athletic director. He died in 1986.

Mrs. Vansant continued teaching until 1940, when she left to raise her family. In the 1960s, she and her husband purchased a 134-acre farm in White Hall, Baltimore County, where they raised dairy cattle.

Mrs. Vansant was a former president of the Senior Citizens Association at the Jacksonville Senior Citizen Center. She was an avid reader of historical literature and retained a lively interest in politics.

She was a longtime member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Sweet Air, where she was president of the women's group and Bible Study Fellowship. Services were held at the church Friday.

Mrs. Vansant is survived by her daughter, with whom she lived since 1986; five granddaughters; and four great-grandchildren. Her son, Kenny Vansant, died in 1995.