Betsy Ellen Goldenberg

Betsy Ellen Goldenberg – a woman who could Name That Tune in no notes – passed away on July 28, 2025 at the age of 71. Until that day, Betsy had a remarkable 3-0 record against cancer, but her last opponent was just too formidable, leaving her many fans stunned and heartbroken.

Betsy was smart (very smart), funny (very VERY funny), generous, loyal, empathetic, resilient, strong (very strong), brave (stoic, to be more accurate), pragmatic, and, no matter what life threw at her, solid as a rock.

She loved rooting for the Pats and against the Manning brothers; her naughty good dogs over the years, Timmy, Shakespeare, Winnie, Tasha, Flicker, Zelda, Sydney, and Clara; all genres of television, particularly foreign crime dramas that were way too complex for the average person to follow but also trashy reality shows featuring rich people behaving badly; all types of wordplay, including the NY Times Sunday puzzle, Scrabble, and her superlative bon mots; cruising down to Foxwoods to hit the slots; starting her day with Dunkin's brewed in an old school percolator; buying cooked lobsters at Market Basket for $8.99/lb; and hitting "Add to Cart" early and often (she had an absolute gift for gift giving).

But above all, her sons Ben and Sam Gould, of South Burlington, Vermont and West Linn, Oregon, respectively, meant absolutely everything to her. She took deep and unending pride in their achievements – in school, on the field, in the office, and in their personal lives – and was an unwavering source of support, encouragement, and wisdom throughout their entire lives. She would have trekked across the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue them from Bowser's castle, fueled by pure, unconditional love. She thought they hung the moon.

She had the greatest affection and admiration for Ben's wife, Maggie Frye, and Sam's wife, Alexa Ball, and was ever grateful that those clever (very clever) women chose her sons and enriched their lives in so many ways.

And then there were the other lights (very bright lights) of her life, her grandchildren: Jenna the Jewel; the sparkling Charlotte; Baylen the Boy Wonder, and the Fabulous Fira. She was madly in love with each one of them and delighted in their every delight. She was proud that all of them are confident, curious, imaginative, bright, adventurous, and kind children (and book lovers!) and deeply regretted that she wouldn't be able to see what fascinating and marvelous adults they will surely become, though she undoubtedly had a very good idea about what was coming. Perhaps, somehow, she will feel it.

Betsy is also survived by her sister Marcy Koff and her husband Steve of Chelmsford; her brother Robin and his wife Maggie of McLean, Virginia; her brother Steven and his wife Phyllis of Roslyn, New York; her father Irving, now of Boynton Beach, Florida; and her nieces and nephews, Jonathan Goldenberg, Wendy Silver, Jaime Cohen, Rachel Pilger, and Joshua Goldenberg, as well as their spouses and children. She was predeceased by her mother, Honey. She also leaves a posse of devoted (very devoted) friends who will now need to find a new source of unfailing support, insight, wit, and superior (very VERY superior) cookies.

Betsy was born in San Diego, California while her father was stationed there in the Marine Corps, was raised in New City, New York, graduated from Brown University with a degree in art history, and earned a Masters of Arts in psychology at UMass-Lowell, where she then taught as a member of their adjunct faculty, for many years. She was a long-time resident of Carlisle where she was a fixture at Little League games, hockey games, soccer games, geography bees, spelling bees, spaghetti dinners, school plays and band concerts, Cub Scout Pinewood Derbies, and the Ultimate Challenge, all to support her children, along with antique fairs, summer days in York Beach, Maine (home of the Goldenrod salt water taffy), dinners out with friends, and, of course, Kimball Farm (usually coffee ice cream, though peach in the summer). For the past 15 years, she resided in Pepperell in a secluded house in the woods, living the life of privacy she always valued.

A private funeral service was held for Betsy, followed by burial in the Green Cemetery in Carlisle. Ben and Sam invite all of her friends and neighbors to join them and their families to remember and honor Betsy and observe Shiva at the Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord on Sunday, August 3 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm.

Her family requests that any donations made in her memory be sent to the Dana-Farber Cancer Center (directed toward research) or an animal shelter in your local community.

We'll miss you every day Mom, GB, Grandma Betsy, Bets.

You truly did know everything.

Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord.