Betty Drouilhet, resident of Carleton-Willard Village in Bedford, died peacefully on Saturday, December 31, 2022, in the presence of her three children, Ann, Stephen, and Susan.

Betty was born and raised in Somerset, Pennsylvania.  As a young woman, she aspired to go into medicine, and she received her Bachelor of Science in biology from Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania.  She worked as a medical technician in Philadelphia, where she met her future husband, Paul Drouilhet, on New Year's Eve 1953.  She and Paul married in 1954 and ultimately settled in Lexington, Massachusetts, where they lived until moving to Bedford in 2011.  Paul and Betty were married for 63 years until Paul's death in 2018.

While primarily focused on being a homemaker and raising her three children, Betty was a kind and generous person who contributed in a variety of ways to her community.  She was an active member of the League of Women Voters, the Follen Church in Lexington, and then the First Parish in Bedford.  She combined her passion for medicine, books, and libraries by volunteering as an assistant research librarian in several medical libraries, including the library at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts.  She also volunteered for several years in the library of the National Heritage Museum in Lexington.

Betty and Paul were avid travelers, taking many trips together both domestically and abroad.  Betty enjoyed gardening, was a lover of the arts and a talented craftswoman – knitting, painting, making silver jewelry, flower arranging. She was also a skilled pianist and helped to instill a love of music in her children, all of whom went on to musical pursuits of their own. Betty also loved to play tennis and inspired a life-long love of the outdoors in her family through summer camps, hiking, orienteering, and cross-country skiing.

Suffering from progressive dementia, Betty spent the last five years of her life as a resident of the Ross-Worthen memory care unit at Carleton-Willard Village, where she was much loved by the staff.  Betty is survived by her three children, her three grandchildren, Andrew, Elyse, and Christopher, and her great-granddaughter Emery.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Betty on Saturday, March 25, at 2:00 PM, at The First Parish in Bedford Unitarian Universalist Church, 75 The Great Rd., Bedford. A jitney is provided to transport CWV Residents. Please sign up by Monday, March 20 if you wish to take the jitney to this service.

Donations in Betty's honor may be made to the First Parish in Bedford. (https://app.onechurchsoftware.com/uubedford/egiving/2)or The First Parish in Bedford Unitarian Universalist Church, 75 The Great Rd., Bedford, MA 01730.