Betsy Mullally was born on September 29, 1952, the fourth daughter of the late Ed and Mary Mullally, in Chicago, Illinois. She was the middle child in a family of seven children, who will always be known as the Magnificent Seven, and she was the first of her siblings to pass on. Betsy will be missed by her siblings and her siblings-in-law: Joanne and the late Chuck Baldwin, Carolyn and Kevin O’Keefe, Barbara and Mick Pries, Peg and Ric Lutz, Bill and Mary Mullally, and Ted and Colleen Mullally. Betsy leaves behind nieces and nephews, their spouses, great nieces and nephews, as well as her cherished best friend of 50 years, Mary McIlraith.
Betsy lived her life with love and compassion, and as a result, she leaves behind great sorrow because sorrow is the expression of deep love. In her professional life, Betsy joined the GM Legal Staff in 1976 as an administrative assistant and worked for several attorneys in the Product Litigation practice area and various other assignments until her retirement in 2008. Over a career on the legal staff that spanned more than 32 years, she worked in the GM Building, Fisher Building and New Center One Buildings on West Grand Boulevard and then joined the move of the GM Headquarters to the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. According to her colleagues, she was a pleasure to work with and was highly regarded for her integrity and ability to be an exceptional problem solver. She was always willing to assist any day or anytime despite the heavy workloads and long hours. Most recently in the past seven years, Betsy worked for her brother, Bill, as an administrative assistant in his financial planning practice at Ameriprise Financial Planning.
Betsy played an integral role as a member of the Kelly J. Price (KJP) Memorial Bowling Party Committee (an annual memorial bowling event in memory of a GM Co-worker and friend that took place for 22 years from 2001 to 2022). Betsy's passion, dedication and generosity toward this event contributed to raising $403K in support of 18 various metropolitan Detroit children's charities. Betsy's fellow committee members will remember her as the behind-the-scenes angel. She didn't want to be in the forefront or receive a lot of notoriety, but her contributions to the event were phenomenal.
Betsy had a great sense of humor and formed lifelong friendships from the years she dedicated to GM and to the KJP fundraiser. She was a great listener and offered helpful suggestions to her family and friends as well as in the workplace. Her contributions to the GM Legal Staff and to the success of the KJP fundraiser will always be remembered. Her friends and family members are better people for having Betsy as a part of their lives.
Betsy was a central figure in the large Mullally clan, but she also had roles to play in each of our smaller families. She and Grandma were part of everyone’s milestones: graduations, birthdays, First Communions, Confirmations, and also our smaller, private holiday celebrations, like Christmas Eve. These times were always special because each niece or nephew got some concentrated personal time with Aunt Betsy. She was genuinely interested in any updates on her loved ones’ lives, and she made us all feel so special. She was also part of the fun when she joined her brothers’ families for Christmas Eve mass. The nieces and nephews would make silly (but respectfully muted) faces at each other. A favorite memory comes from the times when they could get Aunt Betsy to return a silly face!
Betsy always wanted to get to know the people who were important to “her” people, meaning her nieces and nephews. There is a long standing tradition that if you were dating one of her nieces or nephews, she might make a point to pull you aside at a family gathering and have a “chat.” Often this meeting would occur at the base of a staircase or some tucked away corner. Everyone knew that if you were having “the talk” with Aunt Betsy, things must be getting serious! But in talking to one of the recipients of Aunt Betsy’s talk, who joined the family 20 years ago now, the “talk” started with ….”tell me about you.” Aunt Betsy always wanted to know what was happening in her people’s lives, she cared so deeply and wanted only the best for each of us. Each member of the family had their own special relationship with Betsy that was based on Betsy’s deep capacity to listen with genuine interest and compassion. The sayings we most frequently associate with Betsy are: “Hi, sweetie,” and, “Tell me what's going on with you.” You could speak openly and honestly with Betsy and know that she would be on your side.
Betsy made an effort to stay in touch with her loved ones, and she had such a wonderful memory! She could recall the smallest details from her own childhood and that of each of her nieces and nephews. Betsy held the family’s memories, and she loved us with all of her might. Betsy’s siblings and siblings-in-law will miss her forever. They will miss the young middle child who, having finally become the babysitter for her younger sibs, was heard declaring, “Rule number one!” as her parents left the house. They will recall the day when, at last, a son was born into a family with five older sisters and Betsy exclaimed: “But we always have girls!” They will miss the talks during car rides and games of Ma’s Rummy and meetings of the Dump of the Month Club and shared stories of their dearly missed Mom and Dad. They will miss their private talks and their circled lawn chairs at family reunions.
Betsy Mullally died on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. She had been struggling with illness for some years, but her position in the center of our family’s circle of love never shifted. If the measure of a person’s success is the love they gave to others, then Betsy Mullally was a spectacularly successful person. The grief our family feels at her passing will always be a part of us because we will love and miss Betsy forever. But we will also always feel gratitude that she was our sister, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin, and friend.
Visitation, Friday February 3, 2023 from 3-8pm with a prayer service at 7pm at Harry J Will Funeral Home-Livonia. Funeral mass, Saturday February 4, 2023 at 1PM (visitation 12PM) at St. Kenneth Catholic Church-Plymouth.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the Mullally family.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.9.5