Betty Louise Taylor Peck

1926 - 2020

Betty Louise Taylor Peck, 94, of Westmore, Vermont died at her home during the early morning hours on November 30, 2020.
She was born on April 12, 1926 in Barton, Vermont to the late Howard Ezra Taylor and Mary Emma Wheeler Taylor. The family built a small house and barn in Westmore in 1932 and Betty started school in the one-room schoolhouse that is now the Town Clerk's office. During her childhood she often accompanied her father on his hunting, fishing and trapping exploits throughout the Northeast Kingdom. Her mother instilled in her a love of education and also taught her how to bake, cook, knit, and sew.
She graduated from Orleans High School in 1944. She always told us that she graduated on D-Day. Betty knew that she wanted to become a teacher and she became the first person in her family to graduate from college when she completed her Bachelor of Education degree at Lyndon State Normal School (now Northern Vermont University- Lyndon) in 1947. Her first job was teaching fifth grade at Peacham Academy.
After one year at Peacham she moved to Burlington, VT to teach at the Champlain School and attend the University of Vermont where she would begin graduate studies.
While living in Burlington, she met a young man on a blind date. He had returned from World War II and was attending UVM on the G.I. Bill. He was also the cadet colonel and cadet regimental commander of the ROTC at UVM. But he didn't have a car so Betty had to drive!
Betty and Michael would be married in a lovely winter wedding (in a snowstorm) held at St. Patrick's Chapel of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on January 16, 1951. On their honeymoon they spent one night at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City and that night Service de la Police- Bureau de la circulation wrote them a ticket for "Night Parking in Front of Chateau Frontenac on St. Louis Street for more than 2 hours". The fine was $2.00!!
That was the beginning of a marriage that would last for 67 years until Mike's death in 2018. When Mike graduated from UVM in 1951, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Regular Army and that was the beginning of Betty's second career as an officer's wife in the U.S. Army. Military life involved moving many times from one assignment to the next. Mike was sent overseas to the Korean War in 1952-1953. Betty's most memorable assignment was when the family was stationed overseas in West Germany. It was during that time that Betty and Mike vacationed on a drive throughout Europe in their red Oldsmobile convertible. During those military years, six sons were born and raising those six boys helped to prepare Betty for the day that she would resume her teaching career.

In 1964-65 Mike was sent back to Korea for a yearlong tour of duty. Betty moved to Barton with the six boys to be closer to her parents. She survived the year with the help of her next-door neighbors, Pauline Montague and Melvin & Shirley Lyon. She had fond memories of the days on Roaring Brook Road.
After Mike retired from the Army, Betty rekindled her teaching career at Lake Region Union High School where she taught remedial reading and created the Reading Center. Her care for the students ran deep. During the summer months she would resume her graduate work and was finally awarded a Master of Education degree from the University of Vermont in 1976. She taught at LRUHS until her retirement in 1983.
During retirement, Betty and Mike spent the summer months at their cottage on Shadow Lake where they had many friends. They traveled south to Florida during the winter months. In the mid 1990's they returned to Vermont permanently and settled in the homestead overlooking Willoughby Lake.
Betty was a sports fan. She loved March Madness and making her picks on the playoff bracket. Betty was a New York Yankees fan for life but she had respect for Terry Francona. The New York Giants where her favorite football team and Lawrence Taylor was her favorite player. Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress was her favorite play! She listened closely to John Madden's game commentary.
She was a Cub Scout Den Mother, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary-Barton Post 76, a member of the National Rifle Association, and she attended all four churches in the Most Holy Trinity Parish, St. Paul's, St. Theresa's, St. John of the Cross, and St. John Vianney. She was a member of Orleans Country Club and a member of The 251 Club. Betty and Mike were only a few towns short of visiting all 251 towns in the state of Vermont. An expedition with Mike and her college classmate, Barbara Walling, into the Town of Lewis in search of Lewis Pond was especially adventurous.
She enjoyed bird watching, working in her flower garden, picking blueberries and reading a good book.
She is survived by her six sons: Christopher, David, Jonathan, Kevin and his wife Virginia, Stephen and his wife Nina, and Jeffrey and his wife Denise; thirteen grandchildren: Ryan and his fiancé Katie, Alexandria and her husband Doug, Austin and his fiancé Kylie, Cassidy, Madison, Bradley, Ashley, Jake, Ezra, Julie, Brandon, Morgan, and Crystal; and nine great grandchildren: Taylor, Brooklyn, Maverick, Hinman, Maxwell, Emilia, River, Alyce, and Rainn. Betty loved her three Cocker Spaniels: Muggins, Willoughby and Pepper.
Remember Betty by encouraging children to read. Stand up and read out loud. Read a bedtime story to a child. Read the newspaper to your mother when her vision fails.
Funeral services will be held sometime in the future. On-line condolences may be made at curtis-britch.com. Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Curtis-Britch & Bouffard Funeral Home & Cremation Service, locally family owned and operated.