In Memoriam

Elisabeth B. Giffin
1929-2024

COOPERSTOWN—On Monday evening, July 8, 2024, the Village of Cooperstown lost one of its long-time residents, Elisabeth “Betty” Giffin, when she passed into eternal life while en-route from Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown to Valley Health Services in Herkimer following a brief illness. She was 95.

Many knew Betty by name, perhaps from working with her at Bassett Hospital for many years; she may have been your OR nurse! Perhaps you knew her from worshipping together at church? Many dined with her at the Retired Nurses luncheons, or maybe met her at the Fenimore Quilt Club, or the quilt show.

Maybe you know of Betty from her beautiful flower beds on Fair Street. Do you go to the farmer’s market? Betty always went to the market. Perhaps you ran into her in the Ingalls’ blueberry fields? Did she bake you some blueberry muffins? Did you meet her at Pop’s Place (when it was called Pop’s Place), or meet her at “Heartworks” in Fly Creek?

For some, perhaps the name doesn’t ring a bell, but you probably knew of her, or saw her—if you spent time in the Village of Cooperstown.

For many years she walked her dog, her beloved Sheltie, Mica, three to four times a day. A lover of people and dogs, she probably stopped you as you passed by to talk. In more recent years, Betty continued her walks alone, or with a friend. She may have asked to pet your dog.

However you may have known Betty, all are invited to gather at noon on Sunday, August 25, 2024, at The Columbarium located alongside Fair Street in the Church-yard of The First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown to place Betty’s cremated remains into her final resting place, not far from her long-time home. In accordance with Betty’s wishes, the service of committal will be brief, and read from the 1956 edition of the Presbyterian “Book of Common Worship.” All present are then invited to an ice-cream social in memory of Betty in The Chapel or, weather permitting, on the front lawn of the First Presbyterian Church.

Betty was born January 30, 1929 in Baltimore, Maryland, a daughter of Louis and Elisabeth M. (vonBehren) Giffin. During the Depression her father lost his job, but he eventually found another job with Consolidation Coal Company in Van Lear, Kentucky. They lived there for about eight years until her father received a promotion and the family moved to Fairmont, West Virginia. Betty initially wanted to go into biochemical research and attended Fairmont State College. However, she had always wanted to be a nurse, and after graduating from college, she attended Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing and graduated in 1952 with a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University.

With a desire to leave New York City, Betty started looking around for a hospital in a more rural setting, and learned that the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown had a connection with Presbyterian Hospital. So she talked with the Director of Nursing at Bassett, and soon went to work as the assistant supervisor in the operating room. She often recalled that at that time, you did whatever needed to be done—it didn’t make a lot of difference what your position was. Everybody worked together. When she first went to work at Bassett, they had three ORs, but when the new hospital was built they moved to five ORs. Upon her retirement, she held the position of head nurse of the operating rooms at Bassett.

During her years as a nurse, Betty witnessed many changes in healthcare, especially with regard to how the nursing profession evolved. From initially being viewed as simple “handmaidens” to the doctors, many nurses during her career—including her good friend, Alberta Bowes—worked hard to make people, especially doctors, realize that nursing was a free and independent profession.

Once she retired from the hospital, she didn’t know what to do with herself, but soon found work with Harry Tisch at his Snowden Hill Greenhouse. She worked there for five years, during which time she developed her own garden at home with plants Mr. Tisch gave to her. 

Although she resided for many years in her home on Fair Street, Betty first lived in an apartment in one of the houses on Church Street, located in the area now used as a parking lot behind the Baseball Hall of Fame. She later rented an apartment on Elm Street, and then decided to purchase a mobile home, which she had placed on a lot in Hartwick Seminary. A few years later, a house on Fair Street owned by Ralph and Ruth DeSena came on the market and she purchased it. As Betty once noted, she could fall out of bed and fall into work with ease, and it made responding to late night emergency calls a snap.

Soon after she moved to Cooperstown, she started attending The First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown, and joined the church in 1958. In 1969, she became the second female Elder in the church, the late Kitty Ketchum being the first. In 1992, she joined the trustees, which later became the Buildings and Grounds Team, and was a dedicated committee member who was always very concerned with the upkeep and maintenance of the church’s buildings. She also served for a time with the Service Guild, and was president of the Women’s Fellowship sewing group for many years.

A good soul, Betty will be missed, both for her forthright and direct nature (she was never afraid to tell someone exactly what she thought) and her steadfast devotion to her church and community. She appreciated small-town life, but often lamented the changes she witnessed through the years to the village, as well as to Bassett as it grew in size and scope. Still, she was happy, in her own Betty kind of way, with the life she led in Cooperstown.

With respect for Betty’s sincere and long-term interest in and commitment to the buildings of the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown, and realizing that she and the floor of The Chapel were contemporaries, a fitting tribute to her memory would be a donation to the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown for a new Chapel floor. If you desire, a check made payable to The First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown with a note in the memo line for The New Chapel Floor would honor her service. Checks may be mailed to The First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown, 25 Church Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

Alternative ways to honor Betty’s memory would be a donation to the Bassett Healthcare Network Nightingale Fund for Nursing Excellence and Education, c/o Friends of Bassett, 1 Atwell Road, Cooperstown, NY 13326 or the Susquehanna SPCA, 5082-5088 State Highway 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

Arrangements are entrusted to Peter A. Deysenroth and the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.