Loving spouse and mother, cherished daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend, Betsy Kennally earned her angel wings on Friday, May 12, 2017, her 58th birthday, after a brief but courageous battle …
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Loving spouse and mother, cherished daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend, Betsy Kennally earned her angel wings on Friday, May 12, 2017, her 58th birthday, after a brief but courageous battle with ovarian cancer.
While this was much sooner than we would have liked, we are grateful that her last days were peaceful. There is no doubt in our minds that wonderful, giving, life-loving Betsy will find a heaven filled with mountains to summit, canyons to hike, calm oceans to swim in, and a long line of people seeking her excellent advice.
Betsy was born in Hartford, Conn. on May 12, 1959, the third of six children of parents Phyllis and John Kennally. She grew up in Barrington attending St. Luke School and St. Mary’s Academy-Bay View, where she excelled in the classroom and on the athletic fields. She attended Russell Sage College in Troy, NY, graduating with a degree in physical education, and completed her masters in human resources and organizational development at the New School for Social Research in New York, NY.
Her career began at the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY, where she taught physical education and health science. Her next step took her into healthcare human resources, where she worked in many capacities eventually rising to the ranks of executive management. But where Betsy was truly outstanding was in her role as the chief learning officer for both the three-hospital system, Health Quest (Poughkeepsie, NY) and, more recently, Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, NY. In this specialized role, Betsy was able to combine her skill as a teacher with her impressive knowledge about organizations and her extraordinary intuition about people.
Betsy was loved. She leaves behind her wonderful parents; her beloved spouse, June Presslaff and their two cherished daughters, Graciela and Eliana; her sister and brother-in-law, Ann and Ray Armater and daughters Elizabeth, Olivia and Madeline; brother and sister-in-law John and Diane and children, Katie and DJ; brother and sister-in-law Michael and Karen and daughter Erin; brother and sister-in law Tom and Lisa and sons Matthew and Andrew; brother Philip; favorite godfather and his wife, Jack and Pat Clary; mother-in-law Lenore Biller; sister-in-law Robin Presslaff; sister-in-law Wendy and her husband Chris Drucker, and their children Tim and Jamie, and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
A Mass celebrating Betsy’s life was held on Wednesday, May 17 at St. Mary Church; 55 Catoonah St., Ridgefield, Conn. Friends wishing to honor Betsy’s memory may do so by making a gift to Regional Hospice and Home Care of Western Connecticut, 30 Milestone Road, Danbury, CT 06810. Kane Funeral Home, Ridgefield is in charge of funeral arrangements.