Phyllis 'Betsy' Culver-Byrom

Phyllis Elizabeth "Betsy" Ross Culver-Byrom, age 94, former resident of Pittsfield and Centerville, Massachusetts, died January 18, 2017 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

Betsy was born in Pittsfield, Mass., on April 4, 1922, to Harry Duane Ross and Mildred Carter Ross. She married Myron H. Culver, Jr., in 1942. They and their three children enjoyed summer camping vacations on Cape Cod for many years, and in 1977 Betsy and Myron moved to Centerville, where their home was a welcoming haven for their friends, children, and grandchildren.

In the years after Myron’s death in 1996, Betsy found a supportive and loving companion in Myron’s good friend Robert Byrom, of Centerville and Leominster, MA. Betsy and Bob were married in 2000 and enjoyed many adventures together before their activities were restricted by ill health. Bob died in 2014 of Parkinson’s disease, while Betsy suffered from advancing dementia for the last 10 years of her life. The services of the Riverside Life Enrichment Center of Lyndonville, Vermont, helped make it possible for her to live at home with her daughter Jane for several years before she moved to the St. Johnsbury Health and Rehabilitation Center.

Betsy is survived by two daughters, Jane Culver of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and Marcia Culver of Iowa City, Iowa, by 6 grandchildren (Rebecca, Elizabeth, Kari, Jeffrey, Jennifer and Richard) and by 9 great-grandchildren. She also leaves a brother, Richard L. Ross of Rego Park, NY, and sisters Joan Rook of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and Nancy Ross of New Britain, CT. Her son David Ross Culver died in 1993.

In Pittsfield, Betsy worked at Pittsfield General Hospital as in-patient bookkeeper, as a personal secretary at the Berkshire Life Insurance home office, and as a secretary in the Continuing Education program at Berkshire Community College. After moving to Centerville, she put her bookkeeping and organizational skills to work as volunteer manager of the Centerville Historical Society gift shop and was an active member of the Hyannis Garden Club and the Episcopal Church Women at St. Mary's Church, Barnstable. At one time an avid amateur painter, she also loved to garden and studied flower arranging. She was a skilled seamstress and created many craft items for the annual St. Mary’s Christmas bazaar.

A private service will be held at St. Mary's Garden in Barnstable, where her ashes will be interred next to her husband Myron’s. Memorial gifts may be made to the Riverside Life Enrichment Center of Lyndonville, 2104 E Burke Rd, Lyndonville, VT 05851 or to The Alzheimer's Association for dementia research, VT Chapter, 300 Cornerstone Dr. Suite 128, Williston, VT 05446.

Memories and condolences may be shared at www.saylesfh.com.