Elizabeth “Betty” Gill died peacefully on Monday surrounded by her loving family. She was 87 years old.
Betty was the proud daughter of Edward and Flora (Kuhn) Flanagan. She enjoyed an idyllic childhood growing up on Pine Island Pond in Goffs Falls along with one brother, seven sisters, and cousin Dorothy (Manning) Gagnon, who was like a sister to her. After graduating from Central High School and the NH School of Business Administration and Finance, she joined the federal civil service and worked for the Department of the Air Force at Otis A.F.B. on Cape Cod and Grenier A.F.B. in Manchester. She met a young airman, Glenn M. Gill of Hays, KS, while working at Grenier. They married in 1955. During his 28 year Air Force career, they raised three children while living on Air Force bases in eight states. Upon his retirement in 1977, they returned to Derry, NH, which is where they had lived when first married.
Once her children were grown, Betty returned to work. After several years at Mini Systems Computers, she resumed federal civil service and was delighted to work for Dr. Gerald Gehr, the Chief Administrator at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Manchester, until her retirement in 1992.
Betty made many friends while she and her husband were stationed in Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and North Dakota. She actively participated in her childrens’ interests including scouting, 4-H, Little League baseball, and horse shows. Betty loved bowling, golf, horse riding, homemaking, crafts, concerts, and travel to Ireland with lifelong friends Ruthie and Patsy Cavanaugh. She was an avid Patriots, Bruins, and Red Sox fan—except on those days her nephew Mike was pitching for the Baltimore Orioles or Toronto Blue Jays.
Betty was predeceased by her husband (1987), six sisters, five brothers-in-law, and three sisters-in-law. She is survived by daughter, Mrs. Erin Lord and her husband, Rick, of Bow, NH; sons Mr. Shane Gill of Derry, NH, and CAPT Sean Gill, U.S. Coast Guard, of New London, CT; beloved sister Edna Flanagan and brother Edward Flanagan, of Manchester, NH; brother-in-law Paul Gill and his wife, Glenda, of Fort Collins, CO; sisters-in-law Georgia Gill of Mesa, AZ, and Cyndy (Gill) Barton and her husband Rusty, of Mesa, AZ, Virginia Gill of San Antonio, TX; and numerous nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Friday, July 12, 2013 in St. Francis of Assisi Church, Litchfield. Burial followed in St. Joseph Cemetery, Bedford.
Memorial contributions may be made in her memory to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.