Elisabeth Ann “Betsy” Allen, 86, passed away at Brookside Nursing Home in Hartford, Vermont, on Saturday, April 2, 2016. Born in Schenectady, New York, on June 19, 1929, she was the daughter of the late Ralph and Esther (Vedder) Morison. Betsy was previously married to Charles Allen.
Betsy was a 1947 graduate of Millburn (New Jersey) High School and continued her education at Skidmore College, graduating with her degree in dietary science in 1951.
Betsy was employed for several years by A&P in New York City working in a “test kitchen” where she was responsible for recipe and product reviews. Following her marriage and starting a family, Betsy was happy and busy as a homemaker and raising her family in Canada for a time and in New Jersey in the 1960s and 1970s.
With her children grown, Betsy re-entered the work force where she was employed as the kitchen manager for Chubb Insurance Co. in New Providence, New Jersey. Moving to Vermont and settling in Duxbury in 1982, she became the manager of Meals On Wheels in Burlington from 1982 to 1984. Following, she was hired as the kitchen manager at Harwood Union High School in Duxbury, a position she held for 12 years. She retired in 1996.
A woman of great faith, her memberships included Moretown United Methodist Church where she was an active member, the DAR and she served her community as a member of the Duxbury Planning Commission. Betsy enjoyed time volunteering at the Waitsfield Food Shelf, Meals On Wheels program and the Vermont Historical Society. In her leisure time she enjoyed rug hooking, genealogy, history, skiing at Mad River Glen with the Dillon’s, early American antiques, fishing – particularly at Blue Mountain Lake in New York – and spending time with her children and grandchildren. Although she enjoyed many things, she was particularly partial to ice cream, coffee, peanut butter sandwiches and a good merlot.
She is lovingly remembered as a friend to many, a nurturing mother of three, always wanting to give to and help others, her strong sense of giving back to her community and her desire to make you feel comfortable.
Betsy is loved and mourned by her sons, Robert Allen and his wife Virginia of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, and Charles Allen and his wife Susan of Rye, New Hampshire; five grandchildren, Sophie, Rose, Sam and Joe and Brennan; a sister, Nancy Miller of Newtown Square, Pennsylvania; as well as extended family. Betsy was predeceased by her daughter, Nancy E. Allen Dasaro, on May 30, 2001.
Memorial services will be held from Moretown United Methodist Church on April 23, 2016, at 11 a.m. Inurnment will take place in the Waitsfield Common Cemetery. For those who wish, memorial gifts in lieu of flowers would be appreciated to the Mad River Valley Interfaith Council, P.O. Box 342, Waitsfield, VT 05673. Assisting the family is Perkins-Parker Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Waterbury. To send online condolences visit www.perkinsparker.com.
