Betsey A. Edwards passed away peacefully at dawn on June 19, 2025. Betsey had spent over 20 years successfully fighting breast cancer with courage and determination.

Betsey was born in Santa Barbara, CA on February 13,1944 and was raised in Endicott and Endwell, NY.  She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester and master's degrees from Syracuse University, University of Vermont, and Smith College.  Betsey genuinely cared for people, and her entire working life was devoted to human services.  She first worked as a high school English teacher, then as a high school guidance counselor, then at a women's health clinic, and finally spent most of her career as a psychotherapist.  Her therapy work began at Newton-Wellesley and Faulkner Hospitals, then moved to private practice in Brookline and Marlborough in the early 1990s, and finally concluded with many years of private practice in Marstons Mills on Cape Cod.  Betsey loved her work, and she reluctantly retired in 2020 at the outset of the Covid pandemic.

Betsey had an exuberant love of life.  Her warmth and smile lit up any room, and her energy and wit endeared her to all whom she met.  She enjoyed a wide variety of interests ranging from gardening to boating, from hiking to birding, and from travel to reading.  She had a lifelong love of music and was an excellent flutist.  She particularly enjoyed spending time with her family and many friends.

Betsey is survived by her husband of almost 45 years, Richard Edwards of Jamaica Plain; her daughter, Melissa Rathbone and her husband Cesar Puello of Brooklyn, NY; her son, Jason Rathbone and his wife Beth of West Roxbury; her stepdaughter, Beth Thyr and her husband Hakan of London, England; her stepson Jeffrey Edwards of Windsor, CT; and her stepdaughter Karen Cepeda and her husband Ernesto of Jacksonville, FL.  Betsey adored her six grandchildren, Jack Rathbone, Seviah Cepeda, Jayne Rathbone, Sam Thyr, Nina Thyr, and Teddy Rathbone.

She will live on in our hearts forever.

Visiting hours will be at Bell O'Dea Funeral Home, 376 Washington Street, Brookline on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 from 4-7 p.m.  There will be a private internment.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Betsey's name to Better Health Care for Africa at betterhealthcareforafrica.org and highlight the cancer prevention work of Betsey's longtime oncologist, Dr. Lowell Schnipper, also of the Beth Israel Hospital.