Mrs. Rachel S. (nee Smith) Brandt, a longtime elementary teacher in Lower Moreland Township School District, musician, and author, passed away peacefully on Saturday, July 5.

Mrs. Brandt served Lower Moreland students from 1974-2002. 

“She delighted in creating enriching and challenging experiences for her students, including her famous ‘Basic Knowledge Test,’ ‘Stone Soup’ activity, and her tea parties designed to teach social etiquette,” her obituary said.

Mrs. Brandt played viola with the Abington Symphony Orchestra, Abington Festival Strings, and with her daughter in a string quartet at local weddings. She also taught strings at the Bryn Athyn Elementary School.

An avid researcher of Huntingdon Valley, Mrs. Brandt co-authored “Voices of the Valley: Life in the Twentieth Century”, a publication that features personal anecdotes from older residents of historic Bethayres. Lower Moreland Township honored her for the work in 2011.

Burial will be private. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled later this summer, her obituary said. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to Abington Presbyterian Church’s “Music at Abington” fund in her memory. 

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Photo: Patch