Elizabeth Jane "Betty" Husted

Elizabeth Jane "Betty" Husted of Missoula died Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, at St. Patrick Hospital after a short illness. Betty was 90 years old.

Betty was born Aug. 21, 1923, in Cambridge, Mass., and graduated from high school in Waltham, Mass., in 1941. She completed her RN training in Massachusetts at Mount Auburn Hospital in 1944 and began a long nursing career in service to others, mostly focused on mental health. She married Ralph S. Newell in 1945. They were divorced in 1964. She married Paul M. Husted in 1966.

Her professional career included nursing at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., and establishing a new psychiatric facility at Bon Secours Hospital in Lawrence, Mass. In 1972, she left hospital nursing to serve broader community mental health needs when she and Paul established a halfway facility in their home in Salem, N.H., to assist men and women released from mental health facilities to find employment and transition into society. The work was hard, the need overwhelming and the satisfaction priceless.

In 1976, Betty and Paul "retired" to Peaks Island, Maine. But Betty's sense of service to others called her to work in a shelter for battered women in Portland. This required a daily ferry ride from Peaks Island to downtown Portland, not a trip for the fainthearted in the middle of a Maine winter. But the need was great and equaled only by Betty's sense of social obligation to help society's less fortunate.

Subsequently, the New England winters took their toll and Betty and Paul retired yet again to the warmth of Port St. Lucie, Fla., where they were active in promoting world peace and nuclear disarmament. Betty never shied away from big issues but lived her life based upon the motto, "Think globally and act locally," with an emphasis on action.

Eventually, the Florida summers became too much for Betty and Paul and, having become familiar with Missoula through visiting her son Alan, retired yet again when they moved to Missoula in 1992. While she was a New England gal by birth and loved the sea coast, she truly loved Montana. True to form, Betty quickly identified a local social need that she could have an impact on by her actions and she began volunteering at the Missoula Food Bank. She truly believed that everyone can make a difference in society and that everyone has an obligation to try. She continued her activism even after Paul's death in 1998. Betty also was active in the Missoula Friends Meeting and volunteered as a "grandma" at Franklin Elementary School.

Betty is survived by her three children, Deborah M. Reams and husband James Reams of Ashburn, Va., Alan S. Newell and wife Susan H. Newell of Missoula and William B. Newell of Beverley, Mass.; five grandchildren, Kathryn T. Newell and husband Darren Michael (San Antonio, Texas), Benjamin W. Newell (San Francisco), Carolyn Elizabeth Reams and husband Shawn Kane (Reston, Va.), Brian W. Reams and wife Thera Gaston Reams (New York City) and Casey Newell (Tewksbury, Mass.); and two great-grandchildren, George P. Kane (Reston) and Claire Elizabeth Michael (San Antonio).

Last July, her family and many friends came from all over the United States to help Betty celebrate her 90th birthday near Seeley Lake. It was a great occasion to celebrate not just a birthday but a life. Her mind and sense of humor were as sharp as ever. She enjoyed all the deserved attention. Betty lived a full and giving life. She was never shy and wanted all of us to follow our better angels and would willingly point the way to the reluctant. She led by actions and example even to the end.

Rest in peace, Elizabeth Jane Husted, you have earned it. You will be forever missed but forever remembered by your family, friends and by the thousand unnamed whose lives you touched. That is not a bad legacy. The world is a better place because of you. One could not ask for a better epitaph.

The family plans a celebration of Betty's life at a later date at the Missoula Friends Meeting House. Given her work with the Missoula Food Bank, the family asks that any donations be directed to that agency

Read Elizabeth Husted's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.