Elizabeth "Betty" (Engel) Smith

Betty spent her final week in the company of family and friends. She is survived by her sons Stephen (Niki) and Lawrence (Ann), daughter-in-law Sylvia, 8 cherished grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Richard (Dick), sons Daniel, David, Glenn and Gregory, her sister Doris (Bellinger) and twin brother Robert Engel.

Betty grew up in Rochester’s 10th ward and went to John Marshall High School. She left school in her senior year in 1941 to go to work for the war effort. She began dating Dick in 1944 when he was home on leave from the US Army Air Corps. They were married in June, 1945, when Dick returned home after completing 60 combat missions. Dick stayed in the Air Force and the family lived at airbases in North Carolina, Florida and New York until relocating back to Rochester when he left the service in 1952. 

Betty and Dick lived in Rochester until they relocated to Southern California in 1981. There she enjoyed growing roses and other flowers that the year-round sunshine allowed. She enjoyed collecting dolls and teacups, and reading mysteries. In 1995 she had the opportunity to attend a reunion of Dick’s 303rd bomb group in Molesworth, England to celebrate 50 years since the end of WW2. While there, she was also able to visit her mother’s English relatives in Norwich, England, with whom she shared good genes that allowed for her longevity.  

Dick died in 2012 and Betty relocated back to Rochester in 2017. Betty spent her final years living at St. John’s Meadows where she made many friends and participated in many activities. She had a very active social life until her final week. The family is deeply grateful to her friends and staff at the Meadows who made the last chapter of her long life very fulfilling. 

Betty’s ashes will be interred with her husband’s at Riverside National Cemetery in California after a brief service for the family. In lieu of flowers, Betty would have wanted you to have some chocolate.

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