Elizabeth O'Neill
May 31, 1922 — May 3, 2008
A Mass of Christian Burial for Elizabeth "Betsy" Eaton O'Neill, 85, of Granville, will be held at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of Saint Edward the Confessor, 785 Newark-Granville Road, Granville, with Monsignor Paul P. Enke as celebrant. A private graveside service will be held in Maple Grove Cemetery in Granville.
On Saturday, May 3, 2008, our beloved Betsy preceded us into the waiting arms of our Lord. She was born May 31, 1922 in Burlington, Iowa, to the late Henry Ewers and Hayesel (Huston) Eaton. Betsy was the younger sister of Nanette Eaton, whose formidable struggle with cerebral palsy strongly influenced Betsy's life of continual giving. Wife, mother, grandmother, and committed community member, she leaves this world so much the better, in so many ways large and small, for her time here.
In 1931, with the onset of the Depression, Betsy and her family moved to Granville to be near her grandparents, James and Amanda (Wilkin) Huston. Betsy's family has roots in Granville that go back seven generations. She and her sister spent much of their childhood living in Middleton House on Columbus Road in Granville.
Betsy attended the Madeira School, Smith College, and Yale Nursing School, meeting her future husband, Jack, in the Yale Undergraduate Library. For Jack, it was love at first sight, a love that only grew and deepened over the next 62 years. After a vigorous, romantic courtship, Jack persuaded Betsy to marry him on January 9, 1947. Their life together resulted in 5 children and 11 grandchildren, all of whom have felt Betsy's love and care every day of their lives.
Betsy and Jack spent their early years together in Brazil, Indiana, moving back to Granville in 1952 to be near her parents and sister, who were by then living in the Eaton family home at 130 West Broadway. When Betsy's youngest child, Robert, was in middle school, Betsy enrolled in the Capital University School of Nursing to continue the career she had put aside for her family.
Betsy touched many lives in her community work and civic activities over her 85 years. They include nursing work with children both as a home health nurse for rural Ohio areas and at University Children's Hospital in Columbus, the starting of Licking County Infant Development Program to help children at risk for developmental delays, the opening of a battered women's shelter for Licking County, the beginning of Hospice services for Licking County, and the building of Kendal in Granville to provide housing for seniors. All of these programs have grown and continue to this day to serve Licking County.
Betsy will be missed, so much more than words can express, by her husband Jack O'Neill; her daughter Nancy O'Neill and son-in-law Charles Childress of Austin, Texas; her son Henry O'Neill and daughter-in-law Carol Muranaka of Honolulu, Hawaii; her son John O'Neill and daughter-in-law Annette O'Neill of Portland, Oregon; her son Bill O'Neill of Albuquerque, New Mexico; her son Robert O'Neill and daughter-in-law Alexa Robinson of Granville; grandchildren Quinn Ryan of Austin; Regan, Kerry, Eaton, Cullen, and Bryna of Honolulu; Natalie, Molly and Sally of Portland; and Ellen and Alex of Granville.
The family will receive friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the church where a vigil service will be held at 4 p.m. The arrangements are in the care of McPeek Funeral Home in Granville, To sign an online guestbook or send condolences, please visit www.mcpeekfuneralhome.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Betsy's name to Hospice of Central Ohio, 2269 Cherry Valley Road, Newark, OH 43055 or St. Edward's St. Vincent de Paul Society, 161 Union Street, Newark, OH 43055.