Elizabeth was the daughter of Elwood and Pauline (Wigton) Chance. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she grew up in Euclid, Ohio where she graduated from Shore High School in 1942. She worked for a brief time as secretary to the Dean of Co-Op Students at Case Western Reserve University while taking classes there. As part of the Greatest Generation, she left that position to take a job as an aircraft inspector before enlisting in the Women's Army Air Corps. She met her future husband while serving at Hamilton Air Force Base in California. They were married in uniform on January 17, 1947. Together they raised two children while living in six different states, England and Germany. Elizabeth worked as a secretary for many different offices, wherever the family resided, ending her career as executive secretary to the trust department of the Summit (NJ) Bank. Upon retiring in 1990, Elizabeth moved to Gulf Breeze, FL and in 2010 to Azalea Trace in Pensacola. She loved to travel and went as often as she could with lifetime highlights being cruises to Bermuda, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean and riding a helicopter into the Grand Canyon. She enjoyed doing intricate needlework and delighted friends with handmade needlepoint clutches. She once won first place in a Toastmistress speaking contest and she was a marvelous hostess of parties.

Elizabeth is survived by her loving daughter Susan Smith (Colin); two grandchildren, Douglas Smith (Holly), Adrienne Smith; and three great-grandchildren, Mason Smith, Amelia Smith, and Jayvyn Meadows.

She was predeceased by her husband, John M. Schwab, the love of her life, who passed away on June 29, 1981 and by her beloved son, David J. Schwab, on February 6, 2018.

Burial will be held privately at Bayview Memorial Park. A memorial service will be held at Azalea Trace, 10100 Hillview Drive, Pensacola on May 9, 2019 at 10:00a.m. Memorial contributions may be made to First Presbyterian Church of Pensacola, 33 E. Gregory St., Pensacola, FL, 32502.