Elizabeth Miles Daffron

Elizabeth Miles “Betsey” Daffron died on May 23, 2024 at the Sunrise Senior Residence in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania after a long illness.  

 

Born in New York City in 1941, Betsey spent most of her childhood in Suffern, New York. She attended Bucknell University, graduating with a B.A. in Spanish, and continued her education at Boston University before moving to Europe, where she spent two years living in Paris and a third studying at the University of Madrid. 

 

Betsey then settled in Manhattan, devoting over thirty years to teaching Fourth and Fifth Grade in underserved communities.  By all accounts she was an imaginative, passionate, and extremely gifted teacher. 

 

Betsey was always close to her parents, and she loved the beach. After they retired to Sarasota, Florida, she took early retirement and joined them in the nearby Tampa Bay area.  She soon grew restless and returned to teaching for a few years, this time in Florida private schools. Once she had retired for good, she became interested in real estate, eventually becoming a first-time homeowner and a first-time landlord, with residences and rental properties in both Florida (Gulfport and St. Pete) and New York (Staten Island). 

 

A woman of boundless energy, Betsey loved walking for miles at a time, whether on Florida beaches or up and down Manhattan Island.  She was also an indefatigable traveller on land or sea. But she hated to fly, and almost never did.  It amazed everyone that she would and could travel so far and so often without resorting to air travel.

 

Betsey’s devotion to animals, especially large fluffy cats, was legendary.  She always owned at least one cat, usually two, and could train them the way most people train dogs. Towards the end of her life she also owned a little Shih Tzu.  When she became ill and had to leave both her homes and move into a personal-care facility, her chief worry was for the welfare of her three pets.

 

In 2022, Betsey moved to the Philadelphia area to be closer to her remaining family.  She had two fairly good years in Philly, but began a sharp decline at the start of this year and entered hospice care. She died with her sister in attendance and an almost life-size wedding photo of her parents on the wall by her bed.

 

Betsey is survived by her brother, Thomas Daffron (Susan Collins); sister, Carolyn Daffron (Richard Weishaupt); and their children and grandchildren. 

 

Memorial gifts may be made to Sam’s Hope, a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping pets out of shelters by providing pet food and vet assistance to owners in need. Donate by going to Samshope.org. 

 

The family plans a memorial celebration some time in the coming months, with a Zoom link.