Elizabeth Campbell

Elizabeth Coats MacColl Campbell. “Betsy Campbell". Elizabeth Coats MacColl Campbell better known as “Betsy” was born in Providence, Rhode Island on March 19, 1925. Her grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Alfred M. Coats and Mr. and Mrs. James Roberton MacColl.

She was raised by her father, Mr. Kenneth D. MacColl, and attended The Wheeler School in Providence. She then attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT.

She had completed two years of college in Boston before WWII broke out. At her father’s urging she left school to join the war effort and had a top security clearance for her classified work at the US Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island where, after private tutoring from an MIT professor, she was a military draftsman drawing enemy torpedoes.

She worked hard and played hard in the years after the war and prior to her marriage. She regaled friends and family alike with great stories of skiing in Vermont (there’s always snow in Stowe you know) and Colorado. Other adventures included sailing to Europe with her cousin Jean Hart aboard the Queen Mary and working for the esteemed Alistair Cook in New York when he was with the Manchester Guardian.

Always active, Betsy was an avid tennis player for many years and in later years took up golf again when her tennis partners had to give up the game. In earlier years, she loved traveling, fly fishing and bird hunting. She was known for sitting right up front for her War Memorial Exercise class using the same carpet sample she inherited from her mother-in-law as her exercise mat for more than 25 years. She was also known for working out in her Jack Rogers sandals. She and her dog, Lover, were a fixture around Grosse Pointe Farms walking for miles or going for a run at the Country Club. Skiing, however, was her true passion and she was known for skiing beautifully in a somewhat dated but gracefully classic style. Her sons have many fond memories of her leading them on ski trips as they were growing up.

An avid and competitive bridge player, Betsy was also a voracious reader and was known for sharing books back and forth between family and friends.

Betsy met her husband Douglas Campbell Jr. on a blind date arranged by his aunt Josephine Alger in Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard. Doug was actually a stand in for Aunt Joe’s son and Betsy was always thankful for that twist of fate.

They were married on December 8, 1951 in Providence, RI and settled into married life in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI.

She knew only one person in Grosse Pointe when she arrived – her best friend Liz Robb Baubie whom she had met while living and working in Boston. She and Liz were known for their stamina on hours-long nearly daily telephone calls.

Betsy proudly considered herself a professional volunteer and the community was all the better for her energy, creativity, intelligence and myriad talents she so generously shared on behalf of many worthy causes and organizations over the years.

She was past president of the Neighborhood Club, The Garden Club of Michigan, National Cathedral Board of Southeast Michigan, and the Women’s Committee at the Detroit Institute of Arts. She was also instrumental in the founding of the very successful Art and Flowers program at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) where she was an active board member and was known for the beautiful arrangements she arranged at the museum for more than 25 years. The DIA has named an annual lecture in her honor as a tribute to her service. And, in December 2018, the Garden Club of America recognized her for her excellence in floral design.

She was also an active and respected member of the Junior League of Detroit, the Grosse Pointe War Memorial and Sigma Gamma. For many years she arranged the altar flowers at Christ Church and was a trained Alzheimer’s facilitator. She was a compassionate and knowledgeable guide for families and caregivers dealing with this difficult disease. She had learned a great deal over the years after her husband, Doug, was stricken with it.

While known for her outgoing personality, strong will and fierce devotion to friends, she was first and foremost dedicated to her family. She was a hands-on parent and grandparent as a caring and proud mother to her three sons Douglas, Dwight and Duncan and a welcoming and affirming mother-in-law to her daughters-in-law Gwynne, Wendy and Maura. She enjoyed spending time with each of her eight grandchildren Colin (Tara), Caroline (Robert), Alexandra (Thomas), Meredith, Connor (Ashley), Caitlin, Cameron, and Emerson and five great grandchildren Alma, Chloe, Brooks, Malcolm and Silas. She was thrilled to be at the weddings of her four married grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband Doug and brother Alfred “Fred” MacColl and is survived by her younger sister Dottie MacColl Woodcock (Ken) and brother Rob MacColl (Marsha).

Betsy was always there for her family. When her father and stepmother were in a horrific automobile accident, Betsy quit her job to return home to look after her younger siblings who were still toddlers as well as to help nurse her parents back to health.

Her most devoted companion in her later years was her wonderful and doted upon Bijon Frise, the irrepressible Lover. His name alone gives great insight into this amazing woman, a true “Grand Dame” who was by turns charming, formidable, quick-witted and humorous. She knew how to laugh at herself. She had always wanted a dog named Love or Lover and got a great chuckle at walking about town with her “Lover” in tow. Her family and friends are toasting Betsy for a life well lived with her favorite champagne Mumm’s Cordon Rouge and trust the Good Lord has an endless supply.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Art and Flowers, Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48202; Miss Porter’s School, 60 Main St, Farmington, CT 06032 or Friends of Oudolf Garden c/o Anne Milligan Treasurer, 546 Lakeland Road, Grosse Pointe, MI 48230.