Shrewsbury – Betty (Mitchell) Schold, of Shrewsbury, passed away Friday, April 5, 2013. She was 93.
Betty was born Aug. 3, 1919 in Worcester, a daughter of the late Aldin and Nellie Isabel (Paul) Mitchell, and was a graduate of the former Maj. Howard J. Beal High School and Becker Junior College. Upon graduation, she worked at Rockwood Sprinkler Company and later married Stanley V. Schold Feb. 22, 1942. They lived in Shrewsbury for over 60 years.
She worked over 21 years in the Shrewsbury School System as a secretary, primarily at Paton School, retiring in 1982.
Retirement afforded her and Stanley a move to warmer climates in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Stanley passed away Aug. 24, 1994, but Betty maintained their home until moving back to Massachusetts in 2004.
Betty loved the outdoors, the ocean, and staying active. She and Stanley enjoyed square and ballroom dancing, camping, and trips to York and Rye beaches. While in Shrewsbury, she was an active member of First Congregational Church and its couples club and a member of Berlin Baptist Church in South Carolina. She enjoyed membership with friends in the ladies auxiliaries of the Elks Lodge, Moose Lodge, and V.F.W.
Despite struggling with Alzheimer's disease, her heart and spirit remained strong. She loved people and this never changed. Her inability to remember a face and communicate with those whom she knew was replaced by a kiss on their hand each time or a sparkle in her eye and a smile that would illuminate the room. She will be missed but is now freed from Alzheimer's and is rejoined on the dance floor with Stanley.
She is predeceased by her brothers, Aldin and Paul Mitchell.
She leaves her children, Gary P. Schold of Crownsville, Maryland and Karen G. DiBenedetto and her husband, Paul, of Paxton; her grandchildren, Jillian L. Cook and her husband Jerry, Nicholas P. DiBenedetto, Kyle M. DiBenedetto and Justin P. Schold; and nieces and nephews.
Family and friends will honor and remember Betty's life by gathering for calling hours Tuesday, April 9, from 4 to 4 p.m., in Heald & Chiampa Funeral Directors ~ The Sumner House, 5 Church Road, On the Common, Shrewsbury Center, and again Wednesday morning, April 10, in The First Congregational Church, 19 Church Rd., where her funeral service will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Mountain View Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to be made to the Alzheimer's Association or to “Turkey Trot for the Memory,” a Thanksgiving road race in Shrewsbury that raises funds for Alzheimer's, (www.turkeytrotforthememory.org) c/o Shrewsbury Credit Union, P.O. Box 227, Shrewsbury, MA 01545.
