Obituary for Betsy Kopp Dean
GENEVA- Betsy Kopp Dean died peacefully at home on October 22, 2022, at age 101.
At Betsy’s request there will be no calling hours or funeral service.
The family requests that there be no gifts of flowers or charitable donations.
Betsy was born in Tower City, PA on September 17, 1921, the eldest of three children of Ruby and Mark Kopp. When she graduated from high school, she delivered the valedictorian address and she won the school prize with her essay on The Meaning of Liberty in America. The prize was one year’s tuition to Penn State University. She followed up that year at Penn State by enrolling in the New York Hospital School of Nursing where she met her husband Dr. William Dean, a resident in Internal Medicine with Cornell Medical School.
After graduation they married and Bill was drafted overseas. Following Bill’s military service, they moved to Texas for four years and then to Geneva where they remained for the rest of their lives. During this time, they raised their two children, and Bill developed and maintained his medical practice.
Betsy had an inquiring mind and a wide range of interests. She was particularly captivated by geology, wildflowers, philosophy, Asian art, and local history. She was a member of the local Historical Society and she took courses at Hobart and William Smith. As a young mother she had become a highly accomplished self-taught artist. Her lovely pastels, watercolors, and Early American antiques have enriched her home and those of her children.
Her life and love centered on her family, her home and her cats. She and Bill sailed on Seneca Lake. They raced their Thistle, but later they cruised the Lake in a more leisurely fashion, and once a year they sailed to Watkins Glen and back, sleeping and cooking on the boat which was named “Heavens To Betsy”. After Bill retired, they spent their winters in the Florida Keys, boating and fishing and enjoying their friends.
Thanks to her devoted caregivers, Betsy was able to live in her own home until the end of her life. Her beloved husband, Bill died in 2014. Betsy is survived by her son William (Liz) Dean, Jr., her daughter, Cynthia Dean Coale, seven grandchildren; Sara, Laura, Billy, Joey, Erica and Hannah Dean and Augustin Coale; and many great grandchildren.
At Betsy’s request there will be no calling hours or funeral service.
The family requests that there be no gifts of flowers or charitable donations.
Betsy was born in Tower City, PA on September 17, 1921, the eldest of three children of Ruby and Mark Kopp. When she graduated from high school, she delivered the valedictorian address and she won the school prize with her essay on The Meaning of Liberty in America. The prize was one year’s tuition to Penn State University. She followed up that year at Penn State by enrolling in the New York Hospital School of Nursing where she met her husband Dr. William Dean, a resident in Internal Medicine with Cornell Medical School.
After graduation they married and Bill was drafted overseas. Following Bill’s military service, they moved to Texas for four years and then to Geneva where they remained for the rest of their lives. During this time, they raised their two children, and Bill developed and maintained his medical practice.
Betsy had an inquiring mind and a wide range of interests. She was particularly captivated by geology, wildflowers, philosophy, Asian art, and local history. She was a member of the local Historical Society and she took courses at Hobart and William Smith. As a young mother she had become a highly accomplished self-taught artist. Her lovely pastels, watercolors, and Early American antiques have enriched her home and those of her children.
Her life and love centered on her family, her home and her cats. She and Bill sailed on Seneca Lake. They raced their Thistle, but later they cruised the Lake in a more leisurely fashion, and once a year they sailed to Watkins Glen and back, sleeping and cooking on the boat which was named “Heavens To Betsy”. After Bill retired, they spent their winters in the Florida Keys, boating and fishing and enjoying their friends.
Thanks to her devoted caregivers, Betsy was able to live in her own home until the end of her life. Her beloved husband, Bill died in 2014. Betsy is survived by her son William (Liz) Dean, Jr., her daughter, Cynthia Dean Coale, seven grandchildren; Sara, Laura, Billy, Joey, Erica and Hannah Dean and Augustin Coale; and many great grandchildren.