Madeline Patricia (Henaghan) Betts of Sag Harbor died on Monday, September 29, at Sem Haven in Milford, Ohio.
She was the daughter of Lillian and Anthony Henaghan and was born at home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in 1923. Her father was a commercial painter, and her mother was a homemaker. Some time after her birth, the family moved to a house in Garritsen Beach, where her father could pursue one of his hobbies, fishing. When Ms. Betts was about two and a half years old, her father drowned in a boating accident on Jamaica Bay, and she moved with her mother back to Greenpoint and her grandmother’s house, where she joined an extended family of her mother’s many sisters. There was a bright spot in all this sadness and upheaval when her mother gave birth to Ms. Betts’s beloved sister, Florence. Survivors said she and her sister formed a bond that was strong and enduring and that it carried them through the Depression and the other hardships they faced. When Ms. Betts was 13, her mother married Timothy Sullivan, and soon she and her sister had a brother, James.
Ms. Betts was an excellent student at school and excelled in all her courses. She graduated from Girls High School in Brooklyn, where she was a member of Arista, a rare distinction for someone who was taking a commercial course. Because of the financial hard times, she could not attend college and instead went to work as a secretary at Grace Lines during World War II. She was an excellent typist, stenographer, speller and editor, and because of these skills she loved her work.
During World War II, she met James Betts, who became her husband and the father of her three children, James, Kathleen and Kevin. They married in 1945, and she settled down to domestic life and taking care of her children although she never forgot her secretarial skills and was an excellent editor of her children’s various written works.
Once again she had to deal with a tragic loss when her sister, Florence, died in 1963. It was a difficult time for Ms. Betts and her family, and her faith helped her through this dark time, survivors said.
As her children grew, and she had more free time, she decided that she would like to return to the workforce and use her skills. In 1967 took a job at Schaefer Breweries as a member of the secretarial pool. In a very short time she became the private secretary of one of the vice presidents and thrived in her work while enjoying her family.
After the sudden and tragic death of her husband in 1976, she decided on a change in her work situation and became the personal assistant of Richard Gilder, one of the heads of the Gilder Gagnon brokerage firm in New York City, where she again thrived in her work and prospered.
On weekends and during the summer, she would spend time in her house in Sag Harbor, which she and her husband had built so their children could get out of the city during summers and enjoy the beauty and history of the area.
Ms. Betts and her husband both believed in education and instilled in their children a desire to do well and go to college. She could be a rigorous taskmaster about schoolwork, but she reaped the reward of seeing all her children attend and graduate from college.
After retiring, she spent her time between her houses in Sag Harbor and New Port Richey. She enjoyed dancing, especially the Peabody, and being a hostess and was always ready to welcome people—friends and strangers—into her home.
Her religion and her Irish heritage were important to her, and she was a member of the Rosary Society in her church as well as a Columbiette. She enjoyed traveling and visited many countries although she always avoided England. She especially loved cruises and over the years took her entire family, as well as individual members, on wonderful voyages.
Survivors said she was an active person who enjoyed life and embraced activities and new experiences.
She is survived by three children, James and wife Grace; Kathleen and husband Michael, and Kevin and wife Janet; four grandchildren, Jessica, Charlotte and husband Troy, Lusia, and Zacharia; and two great-grandchildren, Anya and Aria. She is also survived by a niece, Ann Kelly; and nephews, James Sullivan, Mark Aleksiewicz, and Brian Tornell. A niece, Teresa Garcia, predeceased her.
Visitation was at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor on Sunday, October 5. A funeral Mass was held on Monday, followed by interment at Pinelawn Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to Sem Haven, www.semhaven.org, or the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org.
on Oct 6, 2014