Betts Lee Carpenter

Betts Lee Carpenter died March 31, as a result of injuries suffered in a fall. She was born June 20, 1926, in Montgomery, AL at the home of a physician friend of the family. The original schedule called for the event to take place at her grandmother’s house in Winnsboro, LA. At that time, Betts’ parents, Harry and Mary (Hatfield) Slingluff made their home in Baltimore. Betts is survived by her husband Robert, her sister Elinor Marshall of Upperco, MD, and her three children, Dr. Lee S. Carpenter of Niantic, CT; Dr. J. Tyler Carpenter of Milton, MA; and Robin G. Carpenter of Sonoma, CA. In addition, she had three grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Betts, known by southerners as Betts Lee, grew up in Baltimore. An aspiring dancer, she dropped out of Goucher College and headed for New York at 19 to join the modern dance company of Charles Weidman. What occurred next was to bring many years of her spirit, charm and capabilities to Roslyn and Manhasset. She was married in New York City to a young man bouncing around in the ad agency scene. She had a child and moved to Nassau County and had two more children…plus three college degrees at C.W. Post, graduating magna cum laude.
Many parents and now-grown children surely have fond memories of her 21 years teaching first and second grade at Munsey Park School. She also taught Sunday School for small parishioners at Christ Church. She sparked growth in membership of the Plandome Women’s Club and proved a tough and successful campaigner for the winner of the contested Plandome mayoral election.
Add to this a regular berth as cook and chief of staff on Effie, a Pearson 40-foot cutter (Euphrosyne) with many cruises to Nantucket and Maine. The most important adventure was a November 1994 offshore voyage out of Norfolk to the Caribbean, where Betts and Bob performed as geriatric crew for friends and family, passing the winter in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and a delightful visit to Culebra, as guests of Bob and Veronica Kirtland.
One granddaughter has reminded Bob of the privilege he had in sharing with Betts 66 years of marriage, a major segment of her 88 years here on earth.