Chadwick Funeral Service
Elizabeth Morgan (MacCormack) Collins, best known as Betty, of Elkins, NH, died on November 7, 2019, at age 96 after a period of failing health. Betty's love of music and family lasted her lifetime.
Born in 1923 in Brooklyn, NY, to Robert Sayer MacCormack and Emily (Waterbury) MacCormack, young Betty's family moved to "the country", Westfield, New Jersey, where she was raised, schooled, married, and lived for 40 years. As a youngster, Betty's family home contained a music room with two organs, multiple pianos, and a closet full of string and brass instruments, instilling her love of music. Following graduation from Radcliffe College in 1944 where her love of music was nurtured, Betty worked in NYC for NBC until her marriage.
Betty met her brother's playmate in Westfield, Lindsay Mathewson Collins, whom she married in 1947. They were friends and lovers for 80 years. Betty and Lindsay's family include son Lindsay Morgan Collins and spouse Ruth; daughter Elizabeth (Betsy) Collins and spouse Scott Matsumoto; daughter Jean Collins and partner Gail Barry; two granddaughters, Katharine Matsumoto and Rebecca Sumi Matsumoto; twelve nieces and nephews; and an untold number of grand and great-grand nieces and nephews.
In the early 60s, Betty's young family moved to La Junta, Colorado, where her husband, Lindsay, had a job opportunity far from the stress of the metropolis that Westfield had become. It was there that Betty began a 20 year career in elementary education. Three years in the Colorado desert was apparently enough, and the family relocated to Contoocook, NH, where Betty continued teaching, earned a Masters in Education and a B.S. in Accounting, and joined the Hopkinton Town Band.
Upon retirement, Betty and Lindsay moved to the shores of Pleasant Lake in Elkins (New London), NH where they had summered for many years, turning a camp into a home, and where they lived most of the rest of their lives. Betty helped re-establish the Kearsarge Community Band playing trumpet and euphonium in the band for over 20 years, helped research a New London Town History, danced with the Bradford Squares, volunteered with the VITA program, RV traveled visiting and square dancing across the country, and later spent winter months in southwest Florida.
In her declining year, Betty lived at Woodcrest Village Assisted Living in New London, NH. Although missing her Pleasant Lake home, at Woodcrest she enjoyed companionship, the opportunities to play the piano and visit the pub, and receive the care that she needed - for which her family will be eternally grateful.
Betty was predeceased by Lindsay in 2014, by her parents, brother Robert Sayer MacCormack, Jr., and sisters Edith May MacCormack and Emily Alice MacCormack.
Calling hours are at Chadwick Funeral Home, 235 Main Street, New London, NH, on November 16, 2019, from 10 AM to Noon. A private burial will be held. Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Kearsarge Community Band, PO Box 469, New London, NH 03257.
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