Betty S. Evett

Betty Schluss Evett died peacefully on March 6th, 2015 after 101 and 1/2 blessed years on this earth. She was born on July 21st, 1913 in Tacoma, Washington to Kurt Schluss and Martha Hoskins Schluss. She often delighted her family with charming stories of her happy, carefree, tom-boyish childhood in rural Washington where she lived up until age 16 when she moved with her family to Medford, MA.



Betty was a spirited, lively, strong-willed, fun-loving girl, qualities that always ran under the surface while she became a refined, poised, dignified, engaging adult. Some of those qualities were channeled into acting as she was an avid thespian during her college years at Tufts where she earned a BA in English. Luckily her theatrical talents found expression in over 40 years as a valued member of an Ithaca play reading group in which she interpreted any role assigned her with insight and nuanced tone. She was especially stellar in her portrayals of crusty, old, English gentlemen.



Her pursuit of graduate studies after Tufts took her to Colorado College where she met her future husband, Kenneth Evett, an art student at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs. During their 66 year marriage (he predeceased her in 2005), he pursued a career in academia, eventually coming to Cornell where he was a professor in the Art Department for 30 years. Betty's intellectual curiosity and cultural interests thrived in these settings. The academic life afforded them three sabbatical years in Italy and other travel opportunities throughout Europe during which she took charge of all the linguistic and practical challenges of living abroad.



They started a family in 1941 with the birth of their first child, Daniel [Janet Snoyer], born in Colorado. Elisa [John Miller] was born in Boston in 1944 and Joel [Roberta Boylen] was born in Ithaca in 1950. She cared for her children with great affection, empathy and wisdom. She took care of all domestic matters and oversaw all the practical aspects of running a household. When Dan and Elisa returned to Ithaca as adults and provided her with grandchildren, she reveled in the chance to spend lots of time with them--Jessica Evett-Miller (Seth Mead),Willem Evett-Miller (Stacy) and Peter McMillan Evett (who sadly predeceased her at age eight in 1995). In later years she enjoyed time with her step-granddaughter, Manisha Snoyer. She was blessed with a darling local great-granddaughter, Laurel, and was looking forward to the birth of another great-grandchild in California in April.



She was a wonderful cook. Her cook books and recipes clipped from other sources were filled with editorial remarks, adjustments in amounts or additions of ingredients to make things tastier. She cooked everything from scratch, baked bread for a family of five, and made sure her cookie jar was always full.



Formed by her experiences during the Depression, she practiced re-cycling, re-using and re-purposing decades before these became popular notions. She rarely threw anything out that she perceived "might come in handy some time." Her basement was a treasure trove of items for which another purpose might be cleverly devised by her. She never failed to mend or repair what could be salvaged.



She was an enthusiastic gardener even though this enterprise was a perpetual uphill battle given the amount of shade provided by the gigantic basswood tree in her yard. She once joked that if her garden were to be included on a garden tour it would have to be touted as a garden cemetery, studded as it would be with little grave markers for all the plants she tried to grow but which never made it.



She was a graceful writer as the lucky recipients of her letters know, though one often needed a magnifying glass to read them. She surely held the world's record for the number of words one could cram onto a postcard. She was a cracker-jack editor, using her skills in her job as an editor of scientific publications in the College of Agriculture at Cornell. Her husband always credited her for improving his prose in his art criticism articles for The New Republic. The dementia that plagued her only in her final few years did not destroy her way with words and some of her loopier utterances were characterized by her ability to turn a clever phrase or to explore the many possible meanings of a word. She had a delightful, distinctive sense of humor and exhibited an incredibly quick wit even as other of her cognitive abilities diminished. She was a master of the art of conversation and the impulse to engage in this way with others never left her either.



She was generous in her support of causes in which she believed, be they social, political or cultural. She kept careful records of her donations to scores of organizations and gave generously of her time to a variety of organizations from the League of Women Voters to the Upstairs Gallery.



No matter what Betty turned to, she demonstrated her true nature as a sensible, down-to-earth, realistic, practical, reliable person who exhibited an authentic interest in, and genuine warmth and goodwill towards, others. All who knew her felt valued, appreciated and respected by her. And all who were on the receiving end of her love, and loved her in return, will miss her while being grateful for having had her in their lives for such a deliciously long time.

A private gathering of family and friends to celebrate Betty's life will take place in the summer. Bangs Funeral Home will be assisting the family.









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