Betsy Short

1938 - 2017

Betsy Short of Wayland. Music, mathematics and sewing were at the center of life for Betsy Short, who as a private tutor insisted that math should be fun as she helped a generation of Wayland students sharpen their skills and prepare for college entrance examinations. Betsy was 79 when she died on Sept., 2017 at the Miriam Boyd Parlin Hospice Residence in Wayland after months of declining health. Her family gathered and her grandchildren played their instruments and sang for her in her last days. In addition to her work as a tutor, Betsy was a volunteer from the time she moved with her family to Wayland in 1978. She worked at the Wayland Depot, taught English as an ESL tutor, served on the board of the Wayland Historical Society and was active from its inception until the end of July in Wayland FISH, which drives people to medical appointments. For a decade she was the parish secretary at the Church of the Holy Spirit (Episcopal), where the family worshipped. Beatrice Elizabeth Hokana was born on Aug. 10, 1938 at Oakes, N.D., into a large farming family. The daughter of a band leader and choir director, she studied piano and organ early and as a schoolgirl played for services at Finnish Apostolic Lutheran churches. Later she played the organ professionally at Lutheran churches in Los Angeles and Honolulu. She spoke Finnish and was proud of her heritage as a descendant of Finnish Dakota Territory pioneers. One of the few female graduates of the University of North Dakota with a degree in mathematics, she was recruited to teach high school math and German in California, and later taught in Minnesota before marrying. The family lived in San Diego and Santa Monica, CA, Kailua, HI, and Boulder, CO before settling in Wayland. A skilled seamstress, Betsy created clothing and one-of-a-kind items such as quilts and tea cozies to give to friends and sell through boutiques. Even as slowly advancing rheumatoid arthritis curtailed her activities, Betsy was at work at her four sewing machines and she never stopped looking forward to receiving a late-night email from a grandchild laboring over math homework. Betsy is survived by her husband, Michael M. Short, her children Michael H. Short of Brookline and his wife, Beth Frankl; Katharine M. Short of Port Chester, NY, and her husband, Peter Cole; and by four grandchildren, Zeke and Sari Frankl and Madeline and Jasper Cole-Short. Also surviving are five of her nine siblings and many loving nieces and nephews. For those interested in making a memorial donation the family suggests the Massachusetts Audubon Society or CareGroup Parmenter Home Care & Hospice, Inc., which operates the Wayland hospice.