Elizabeth (Betsy) Nichols, longtime resident of Springfield (Crestwood) and Burke, passed away on Feb. 4 with family members by her side. She was 95.
Betsy was born and raised in Maryland, and earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Maryland in 1942. As a student, she worked at Gifford’s Ice Cream Store in Silver Spring, Md.
After graduation, she worked for the War Department in the office that vetted physicists for the Manhattan Project.
Betsy was married for 25 years to William Nichols, and they moved with their three young children, Jim, Patty, and Jeanne, to Springfield in 1953.
She was a founding member of the Crestwood Women’s Club, later renamed the Women’s Club of Springfield. The club played a major role in the creation of the Richard Byrd Library, where she worked as a library aide in the 1960s.
When she lived briefly out of state in the 1970s, she worked with the Montgomery County Library System in Maryland. When she returned to Springfield, she volunteered at Richard Byrd. She also volunteered with Brownies, Cub Scouts, political campaigns, charitable medical organizations, and the county school system.
Betsy loved to garden, and her yards were always full of color. After retiring, she also grew a vegetable garden and shared her produce with neighbors.
In 2005, she moved to Burke to a senior living apartment building and made new friends there.
Through it all, Betsy had a marvelous sense of adventure, and traveled with friends and family throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
She is survived by her three children and their spouses, two grandchildren and their spouses, and three great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews. A memorial service will be held in April at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Springfield, where she was a founding member.