Victoria Booth-Clibborn Demarest

[Mrs. Agnew Demarest]

The Rev. Victoria Booth Demarest, an evangelist, writer and member of the founding family of the Salvation Army, died Sunday of heart failure at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. She was 93 years old and lived in St. Petersburg.

She was the granddaughter of William Booth, who founded the mission group in England that became the Salvation Army, and the daughter of Catherine Booth-Clibborn, who organized groups in France and the Netherlands.

Mrs. Demarest was born in Paris and graduated from the Paris Conservatory of Music. She came to the United States in 1918 and married Cornelius A. Demarest of Louisville, Ky., with whom she wrote hymns and sacred music.

She also wrote such inspirational books as "The Shade of His Hand," and plays, including "King David and the Empty House." She traveled widely as an evangelist in the United States and abroad, preaching in four languages. In 1946 she founded the World Association of Mothers for Peace Inc.

In 1949, Mrs. Demarest was ordained a minister in the Congregational Church, now the United Church of Christ, at the Broadway Tabernacle Congregational Church at 58th Street.

Mrs. Demarest, whose husband died in 1959, is survived by four children: Evangeline Demarest of St. Petersburg; Victoria Monro of Austin, Tex.; Arthur Demarest of Beechurst, Queens, and Cornelius Demarest of Lexington; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

--www.nytimes.com/1982/04/06/obituaries/