Simmons, Elizabeth “Betty”

Pittsford – January 1, 2018. Survived by loving husband of 57 years, Anthony; sons, Stephen (Martha) and Douglas (Karrie); grandson, Ryan; brother, Donald (Deirdre) Gordon; sisters, Hilda Hennessy and Joan Conray; many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Calling hours Saturday 2-5 at the Richard H. Keenan Funeral Home, Egypt Location, 7501 Pittsford Palmyra Rd., Fairport. In lieu of flowers please consider donations to Golisano Children’s Hospital, 601 Elmwood Ave., Rochester, NY 14642.

Biography of Elizabeth’s Life

Betty was born on 22nd February 1937 at Hollis Street Maternity Hospital in the centre of Dublin. She was the second daughter of Douglas and Elizabeth Gordon who at that time lived at 17 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 2. In 1938 her parents bought a house in the then suburbs of Dublin where Betty spent most of her early years. She had two sisters Hilda and Joan and the youngest in the family is her brother Donald.

Betty’s father died when she was eleven and Betty was sent away to boarding school when she was thirteen spending four years at Mercer’s School in Castlenock, Co. Dublin. During this period, when Betty was fifteen, her mother died.

At school and at home, Betty was always well liked and had plenty of friends. She was kind and caring and generous in all respects. In her fourth year in boarding school, she was appointed Nursery Prefect and put in charge of looking after the new girls in first year. She spent school holidays with her school friends with Dolly Merritt in Westport and with Irene Harris on their family farm in Clondalkin. When at home, after the Saturday morning chores, she enjoyed going to the cinema with her sisters Hilda and Joan.

Betty was good at maths and when she left school, she went to work in the accounts department of a large centre city pharmacy called Hayes Cunningham Robinson (HCR). This was a very ‘protestant’ organization and as a member of the Church of Ireland, Betty was welcomed into the fold. Her supervisor was a Miss Evans with whom Betty evidently got on very well, as Miss Evans shared her lunchtime sandwiches with Betty. One Monday morning Betty arrived at work and mentioned to Miss Evans that she had washed her hair the previous day. “You washed your hair on a Sunday!” declared Miss Evans to which Betty replied, “ But Miss Evans, is cleanliness not next to Godliness?”

After a year or so, Betty got a better job with the Marchmont Box Company working for the Scarlett family. It was around this time that her sister Hilda began to go ‘steady’ with the man who was to become her husband and Betty could see that things would change at home. Unbeknown to anybody, Betty applied for a trainee nurse position at the New End Hospital in Hampstead. When accepted, she wrote to her uncle Norman in London who offered to help her settle in when she arrived. When all was organized, Betty announced her intentions to Hilda and Joan who were both shocked and upset to be loosing their sister. Brother Donald was by this stage in boarding school down the country.

It was at New End Hospital that Betty qualified as a State Registered Nurse and met her future husband Tony. Tony spent a protracted period in hospital after a motorbike accident. When Betty used to go to take his temperature, he would hold her hand and not let her go. When Tony was leaving hospital, Betty offered to wash his hair and it was during this that he asked her if she would go out with him, and as we know the rest is history.

Over the years Betty continued to maintain close ties with her sisters and brother. She spent many holidays with her sisters in Europe and in the USA but perhaps the most memorable of all, was when the whole Gordon family, spouses and children, gathered on a remote island off the west of Ireland for a week in June 1980. No roads, no cars, no electricity – just loads of fun and laughter and the odd pint of Guinness.

Was Betty perfect? Many would say yes and it was not for nothing that she acquired the name “Saint Betty”. But there was one tiny imperfection. When she was three she cut her left hand index finger on the bathroom window latch, which her mother dressed. Nevertheless, while the index finger healed, a broader infection developed in the hand and spread down her little finger. The doctors in the hospital sought permission from her father to amputate her hand. He refused and they had to settle for amputating her little finger. Needless to say Betty recovered from that and a subsequent dose of diphtheria and learnt to play the piano with just nine fingers.

Our much-loved sister Betty was a kind and gentle person and was always ready to listen and help with other people’s problems. All her family loved Betty dearly and she will be sorely missed. We, the Gordon family, would like to express their sincerest gratitude to Tony and to Stephen for the wonderful care, which they provided for Betty in her failing years. We will forever be grateful to them and our thoughts are with them at this time.