Louise Harlan Umbarger

Louise Harlan Umbarger passed away peacefully in her home on February 5, 2026. After 85 years of music, books, her family, and her church, Louise has left behind a legacy of caring through doing. She would frequently tell her family to “look around and see what needs to be done.”

Louise was born on January 29, 1941, to Paul and Katharine Baxter Harlan. She grew up at Homelands Farm in Churchville, MD with her four older siblings, Paul, Henry, George, and Oleita. She attended Churchville Elementary School and later graduated in the class of 1958 from Bel Air High School. She proudly continued on to Goucher College where she earned her B.A. in Elementary Education and graduated Phi Betta Kappa in 1962.

Louise loved music. She studied music at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore and was a concert pianist. She was part of the Glee Club in high school and sang in the choir at Churchville Presbyterian for over 50 years. It was there that she met her husband, Gene Umbarger. They were married in 1962 and had a son, Worley, and a daughter, Kate.

Louise had many careers. She taught fifth grade at schools across Harford County from 1962 to 1975. She even taught a little boy in 1973 at the Harford Day School who would one day become her son-in-law. After teaching, she worked on her husband’s dairy farm, Woolsey Farm, in Churchville, MD. She wrote a column for the Cooperative Farmer Magazine titled “10 O’Clock in the Barnyard.” In 1986 Woolsey Farm sold its cows and Louise and her Gene pivoted to real estate. She worked for Coldwell Banker and then Long and Foster for 30 years, where she won numerous awards for her salesmanship.

Louise loved learning. She never stopped seeking out more information to help her do her work better. While she was teaching, she took graduate level classes in Elementary Education from Townson University. As a dairy farmer, she took artificial insemination courses from the University of Maryland, a microbiology class at Harford Community College, and attended “Cow College” at Virginia Tech for dairy management, mastitis control, and dairy finance

Louise’s guiding principle was “How can I be of the most use?” This influenced not only her education and career but also lead to so many small jobs she did. She took care of her son-in-law David’s calves. She bottle fed hundreds of lambs for her son Worley in her kitchen. She took care of her three granddaughters, Josie, Emmy, and Belle, every Friday night and Saturday morning for a decade while their mother, Kate, worked farmer’s markets. At Churchville Presbyterian Church she played a role in every aspect of leadership, making herself useful wherever there was an opportunity.

Louise was the quieter companion to her husband for 62 years. While Gene was at events socializing, she would be known to keep a book in the car and leave when she was ready to go read until her husband joined her. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gene Umbarger, as well as all four of her siblings, Paul Harlan, Henry Harlan, George Harlan, and Oleita Genshaw. She is survived by her children Worley Umbarger, Jr., his wife Cindi, her daughter Kate Umbarger-Dallam, her husband David, and her three granddaughters, Josie Dallam, Emmy Dallam Beavers, her husband Lucas, her great granddaughter Oleita Louise, and Belle Dallam. Her beloved nieces are Sarah Genshaw Wegley and Martha Genshaw Ulman, and her nephew is Michael Harlan.

Besides all she did for her community, Louise will be remembered by her love of food, particularly ice cream and quiche from Broom’s Bloom Dairy, her love of books, notably The Message by Eugene Peterson, and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, her love of animals, cats, dogs, lambs, and calves, and her devotion to God and her church. She loved her family fiercely and will be missed dearly.

The family invites everyone to join them for a community fellowship to celebrate Louise’s life Friday March 20th at 6pm to enjoy her favorite ice cream treat at Broom’s Bloom.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 21st 11am at Churchville Presbyterian Church, 2844 Churchville Road, Churchville, MD 21028.

In Lieu of flowers, you may contribute to: Churchville Presbyterian Church 2844 Churchville Road, Churchville, MD 21028