Published in the October 23, 2015 edition
TUCSON, Ariz. — Elizabeth “Betsy” Nolan, 70, of Tucson, Ariz., and formerly a longtime resident of Wakefield, passed away on Oc. 9 after a long and courageous battle with an extended illness.
She was the beloved daughter of the late Atty. Joseph J. and the late Ruth (Hale) Nolan.
Betsy grew up in the Chapman Park neighborhood and attended the Montrose elementary school where her mother Ruth worked as a crossing guard. She was a graduate of Wakefield High School, Class of 1963, where she was recognized by many of her teachers as a gifted and talented artist. She was encouraged to attend art school which led her to The Vesper George School of Art in Boston from which she graduated in 1965.
Upon completion of art school, she worked for a number of years as a commercial artist in the Boston area. Later in life she worked as a medical transcriptionist at the Harvard Medical School affiliate, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.
Aside from her love of family, friends, art and cats, Betsy was also a talented musician and enjoyed playing the guitar and singing blues and folk music. She was a regular entertainer at the veterans’ hospitals, particularly on holidays where she would play the guitar, sing and tell an endless number of jokes, always leaving her audience laughing and in good spirits.
Her talents were not limited to drawing and music, as she was also well-schooled in the art of boxing at an early age by her father, a former nationally-ranked Golden Gloves boxer who went on to compete in the Olympic trials.
Her skill at boxing came in handy while she was in the sixth grade when she refused to back down from a schoolyard bully of the opposite sex who was much bigger than she was. Needless to say, the young man suffered embarrassment on top of defeat that day and never bothered her or her girlfriends again.
Betsy is survived by her loving daughter, Regina Enman and her granddaughter Kiera of Athens, Mich., in addition to her cousin Robert Nolan and his wife Susan of Sandwich along with her many friends in different parts of the country.
A period of visitation will be held at McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Monday from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Patrick Cemetery in Watertown.
