Betty Jane (Hill) Empringham

Betty Jane Empringham (January 7, 1921) has gone to be with the love of her life Bill (William George E - February 19, 1920-April 14, 2002) as she passed on January 14, 2021, just a week after her 100th birthday.

Betty was born to new Canadian immigrants in St. Catharines, Ontario and was baptized at St. Paul St. United Church (now Silver Spire), where she was in the choir for 91 years and was a church member to the end. She lived her life in St. Catharines, raising her 4 boys: Ed (Jackie), Jim (Charlotte), John (Sue) and Bruce (Shirley). She also leaves 11 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren, all of whom she valued immensely. She remained close to Peter Halicki and Mildred Muir, her remaining generational buddies and was close to her nephews and nieces and her rich circle of friends.

She was an immensely talented musician, transposing on the fly and playing at Ina Grafton up to Christmas 2019. Her love of music is seen in many of the family. She was a 100 year old who still knew what every one of her children, great grandchildren, nephews and nieces were up to every day and revelled in connections with people, still having quite a wide group of friends, both new and old. She thought her facebook birthday celebration was wonderful and certainly loved Facetime, though it was sometimes an adventure.

The biggest lesson she leaves us with is that people are really all that matter, not things. To honour Betty, please take a moment to reach out to someone who needs it today. The world will be better place through that kindness. Thanks to the wonderful caregivers in her last week and to the wonderful people at Ina Grafton. If you want to make a donation, Betty wanted these to go to Silver Spire United Church or Niagara Ina Grafton Gage Village, both in St. Catharines. Covid19 continues to impact our celebration of Betty and we will be having an online celebration live streamed from Silver Spire United Church on January 23, 2021 at 12 noon. The link is:

Silverspire.ca and click on the livestream link (takes you to streamspot where it will be showing live at noon).