Dr Betsey Chambers

1975 - 2025

CHAMBERS, Dr. Betsey Melissa MD

Betsey Melissa Chambers, M.D., age 49, passed away on March 24, 2025, at Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta. Betsey was born on October 15, 1975, in San Francisco, California, the first child of Carole and Donn Chambers. She grew up in Atlanta, graduating from the Lovett School in 1994. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rice University in 1998, Betsey attended Emory University School of Medicine, receiving her M.D. degree in 2002. She completed her residency in pediatrics at the University of Colorado and made a home in Denver, where she developed a close group of friends from residency, work, and her neighborhood. Betsey became chief of the newborn-care nursery at Denver Health Medical Center, transforming that unit into a model of the best possible care for newborns. While at Denver Health, Betsey taught newborn care to medical students and pediatric residents, learned to speak Spanish with her patients, and wrote a textbook chapter on the subject of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. But by far Betsey's greatest role and joy in life was in being a mother to her two sons, Will and James.

Betsey, Will, and James built a life together in Denver's Lowry neighborhood, where they quickly became fixtures in the community of families on their street. Together they embellished inherited family traditions and invented new ones, went for adventures to museums and parks, and shared an ever-growing sense of humor and joy in each other's company, which they shared heartily with visiting friends and family. Betsey loved hiking in the mountains, snow skiing, paddle boarding at sunrise at Lake Burton, and repeat viewings of classic "Friends" episodes and romantic comedies. She enjoyed a good cup of tea, a round of the Mexican Train game, or a dinner conversation that lasted late into the evening, preferably with a glass of forty-year-old port. She excelled at making sausage tarts, pound cake, and chocolate-chip cookies, successfully adapting many family recipes for high-altitude baking. She travelled frequently, once running a half-marathon in Antarctica with her sister Amy. Four special places for her were Lake Burton, the San Juan Islands, the Colorado mountains, and the Italian town of Varenna.

Betsey maintained close friendships from all phases of her life. She had a natural ability to engage with and care for others in a way that made you feel special; friends from high school, college, and residency referred to her as "the glue that kept the group together." The outpouring of love at her passing has been such a comfort to her family and especially her boys.

Betsey developed breast cancer in 2015, living a full life before the disease began to affect her lungs in the spring of 2024. She died peacefully in hospice care on March 24, 2025.

Betsey is survived by her sons, Will and James; her sister, Amy Chambers; her brother, Drew Chambers and his wife, Katia; her niece, Orla Chambers; her parents, Donn and Carole Chambers; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and close friends and co-workers.

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, April 27, at 11 AM, in the Magnolia Room in Piedmont Park. Details can be found on Betsey's page at CaringBridge.org.

In lieu of gifts or flowers, please consider supporting one of Betsey's favorite charities: The Nature Conservancy, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Image Reborn Foundation.