Betsy Marchand

1934 - 2025

Betsy Ann Marchand, the first woman elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, passed away on October 22, 2025 from complication arising from Alzheimer's disease. She was 91 years old.

Betsy, born in West Covina, California in 1934 to a pioneer California family, was a lifelong Californian. The eldest of three children of Thompson A. Elliott and Zillah Porter Elliott, she was raised on a ranch in Pasadena, though she would make Northern California her adult home. As a young woman, she worked at the J. C. Penney Company to save money for college. She received a B.A. from Pomona College, Claremont (Phi Beta Kappa) and a M.A. from Vanderbilt University where she was a Ford Foundation Fellow. On returning to California, she met Charles Roland Marchand on the steps to the Pomona College Library; they married in 1959. In 1964, 'Roland' received a professorship at UC Davis, and the family moved to Davis, where Betsy and Roland would stay for the rest of their lives.

In the later 1960s, Betsy began a life of civic and political volunteer work and in 1972 decided to run for Yolo County Supervisor. At the time, there had never been a female supervisor in Yolo, but she prevailed, and she went on to serve six consecutive terms and to serve on countless county and statewide committees and boards. In 1996, as Roland's health had become precarious, she decided not to run again. When he died in 1997 Betsy was devastated, but chose to remain active, and took a series of jobs as a political consultant, for Families First, for Yolo County Flood Control, and finally for the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. One of her last leadership roles was to serve as the Chair of the Community Board of Dignity Health's Woodland Healthcare. Besty was instrumental in the formation of the Vic Fazio Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, and she served as President of the State Board of Reclamation. In 2016, she was named a Woman of the Year in Yolo County, one of many awards she received for her service throughout her life. In 2022, she moved to the Atria Covell Gardens Senior Living, leaving behind her beloved neighborhood on Craig Place in East Davis.

Betsy was a fiercely independent person and thinker, and she devoted her adult life to public and non-profit service. As her children knew well, one could not run out for groceries with Betsy without running into a constituent who wanted to have a quick word or thank her for her service. Even in retirement, she continued to be a much-sought-after mentor to many seeking public office, and she had a particular interest in encouraging women to take on leadership roles. She remained a strong supporter of UC Davis, especially its History Department. Her legacy is the support of many admirable social and environmental causes, the promotion of good government and the advancement of her beloved state of California.

She is survived by her children, Suzanne and Jeannette, their husbands Victor and Sotirios, and grandchildren, Charles, Henry, Vex, and Costas. A memorial service will be held at the Davis Methodist Church on Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. Charitable donations in Betsy's name may be made to the Yolo Basin Foundation, the Yolo Crisis Nursery, or to the Marchand Public Engagement Fund at UC Davis.