Madeline P. Betts
Madeline Patricia Betts, who spent much of her life in Sag Harbor as both a year-round and summer resident, died at Sem Haven, a residential care center in Milford, Ohio, on Sept. 29. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six years ago, her family said. She was 90.
Born on Nov. 16, 1923, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to Anthony Henaghan and the former Lillian Dursch, she grew up there and in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn. Her father died in a boating accident when she was 2, and her mother moved her two young daughters into their grandmother’s large house, where they lived with an extended family of her maternal relatives.
At Girls High School in Brooklyn, she excelled in her courses and was named to the Arista National Honors Society, but was too poor to attend college. Instead she went to work as a secretary for Grace Lines, the shipping company, where she was considered a top speller, stenographer, typist, and editor. Working there during World War II, she met James Betts, and they were married in Greenpoint on May 5, 1945, two days before the war in Europe ended.
They had three children, all of whom survive. They are James Betts of Brooklyn, Kathleen Betts Radziewicz of New Port Richey, Fla., and Kevin Betts of Milford.
In the 1950s the family began summering in Sag Harbor, renting at first but soon buying land on Pine Crest Lane, where they built a house. His mother loved the beach, her son said. “She believed that if you didn’t have a tan, people wouldn’t believe you’d been away.”
She returned to work when the children got older, joining the secretarial pool at Schaefer Breweries. She quickly rose in the ranks and became a private secretary to a vice president of the firm.
After the death of her husband in 1976, Mrs. Betts became private secretary to Richard Gilder, a founder of an investment firm. After she retired, she began volunteering in Sag Harbor and in New Port Richey, where she spent winters.
She always loved entertaining and dancing, her family said. Her Catholic faith and her Irish heritage were very important to her as well. Though she traveled frequently to Europe, she always avoided England. She was a member of the Rosary as well as a Columbiette.
After her illness was diagnosed she moved to the care center to be close to her son Kevin.
In addition to her three children she leaves four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Funeral services were held on Monday at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sag Harbor; burial followed at Long Island National Cemetery, Pinelawn.
Memorial donations may be directed to Sem Haven, 22 Cleveland Avenue, Milford, Ohio 45150, or to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Avenue, Floor 17, Chicago, Ill., 60601.