Elizabeth "Betty" Bray

Mrs. Elizabeth “Betty” Bray (née Bennett) died peacefully on April 16 in Jacksonville, Florida at the age of 77.

Betty is survived by her husband of nearly 60 years, Bob; children, Linda (Richard) St George of Summerfield, Fl; Bob Bray (Joe Hickey) of Nanuet, NY; Rick Bray of Oceanport, NJ; sister Barbara Weikel of Royersford, PA, and grandchildren Jessi (Kevin) Selig, Matt St George, and Charli Bray; many nieces and nephews, and countless family and friends.  She is preceded in death by her parents, Grace and Charles Bennett, brother, William Bennett, and sister, Irene Shelly all of New Jersey.

Betty was born on August 4 in Red Bank, New Jersey. She married Bob, whom she met on a blind date, in 1960 and the two would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in November this year.  They lived together in New Jersey for 35 years until retiring and moving to The Villages, Florida in 1995.

Betty was a loving mother and friend.  She was fiercely competitive in all areas, and that extended to her love of family.  She was generous of heart and sacrificed to provide for her family. Betty loved to play games - Scrabble, cards, and more recently Words with Friends.  She was an athlete in younger years and enjoyed softball, in which she was a star pitcher, and coached her daughter’s team for four years. Betty was a talented bowler, and she was also a golf enthusiast.  Betty was extremely proud of achieving not one, but six holes-in-one, including three post-transplant!

Seventeen years ago, Betty received a lung transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.  Her competitive nature made her a fierce warrior in many battles with her health. She was proud to be one of the longest-living lung transplant survivors and was grateful to the Mayo Clinic and all of their staff, but especially, Dr. Francisco Alvarez, who performed the surgery and monitored her progress all of these years.  She had a special fondness for Dr. Alvarez and it was fitting that he was present with her on her last day.

A celebration of life for Betty will be planned for a future date.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Transplant Department at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fl. https://philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/donateMC

The family would like to give heartfelt thanks to the entire staff at the Mayo Clinic for their love, compassion, and dedication these many years.